The War: The Mind vs The Heart
by Midnight-in-Russia
Summary: State Alchemists are needed out front in the war against Aerugo. Edward and Roy are the first to be called out. What lies ahead for the two alchemists? Read to find out! Work in Progress. Chapter 15 is up! RoyEd.
1. Chapter 1

Edward Elric's stomach performed flips that would put a gymnast to shame as he walked down the main corridor of Central HeadQuarters. He pulled his red cloak around himself as he walked down the empty corridor, his footsteps echoing off of the walls. '_**Winter is such a cruel season' **_he thought to himself. _**'You'd think this stupid building would have better heating....' **_A few moments ago, he had been poking at a plate of mystery food courtesy of the Mess Hall until an older soldier had interrupted him.

"_Edward Elric? Colonel Mustang would like to see you in his office," the soldier said in a formal tone. Ed shot him a puzzled look, but the man had already walked away. He threw away his so-called "lunch" and sauntered out of the cafeteria._

"I don't see why the bastard had to interrupt my lunch break to talk to me. What does he want anyway? I already gave him my report, and I didn't even blow up a building this time! So what could he _possibly_ want?" He muttered to himself as he approached Mustang's office door. Ed glared at the shiny plaque on the door that read "Colonel Roy Mustang". He gulped and stared at the doorknob. He was slightly nervous. Okay, he was _very_ nervous. He was sure that whatever the Colonel had to say, it would not be good. Just as he reached for the doorknob, the door was wrenched open to reveal Riza Hawkeye.

"Edward!" Although her face was blank, her voice indicated that she was surprised to see him. "I was just about to go looking for you. The Colonel wishes to speak with you." She stepped aside to let him into the office and closed the door behind herself as she exited.

Ed found his commanding officer staring at a manila folder on his desk. Mustang glanced at Ed as he marched up to his desk and then dropped his gaze back to the folder. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb and stayed like that for a minute or two. Finally, he looked up at his young subordinate.

"Full Metal…. I'm sure you're aware of the skirmish our country has been having with our neighboring country, Aerugo, yes?" He paused for a moment as Ed gave him a small nod.

"Well, the skirmish has developed into something a bit bigger than we expected. The military has been focusing all of their attention on Drachma, expecting them to attack. As it turns out, we needn't be worried about Drachma, because Aerugo is doing the attacking. About a month ago, Aerugo declared war on Amestris, but that's been in the newspapers for a while, so I'm sure you already knew that," the Colonel explained in an awfully boring voice that made Edward want to fall asleep. Or punch his superior in the face. Either one would be better than having to listen to the man drone on and on….

"Okay, and what has this got to do with me?" Snapped the younger alchemist.

"The papers in the folder would explain everything, but I think you need to hear it from someone you know, not from a stack of papers. Our side is holding their own, but more and more of our soldiers are dying but not because of Aerugian attacks. The weather isn't the best and nor are the living conditions of the soldiers," he paused and shuffled through the papers inside of the folders. He pulled a single piece of paper out and read from it.

"Over 500 cases of the common cold this past month. Over 200 cases of the flu. And about 40 cases of what is believed to be pneumonia," he paused here and lifted his head to gaze directly into Ed's eyes.

"And...?" Ed trailed off. He still did not see how any of this was related to him. Mustang sighed.

"And the troops are in dire need of State Alchemists," he finished, not tearing his eyes away from Ed's for even a split second. He younger alchemist stared at him as though he were frozen.

"Full Metal...." the Colonel gave him his most apologetic look and then grimaced as his subordinate slammed an auto-mail fist upon his desk.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" He yelled. Mustang did not so much as flinch as the hot-tempered blonde punched the desk again. All of his attention was focused on the tears surfacing in those amber eyes. Tears were threatening to spill over the brink of Ed's eyes, and Mustang did not even speak so much as a word of comfort.

"I'm sorry, Edward. Orders are orders. You haven't been told to fight. You are to use your alchemy to help improve the living conditions of the soldiers. But Full Metal..." he stood, putting both hands on his desk as he did so.

"Keep your eyes open. Never let your guard down. Expect the unexpected. You weren't ordered to fight, but that doesn't mean you won't have to. Soldier or State Alchemist, the Aerugians don't care who they kill. If you're from Amestris, you're marked as an enemy and a target. You've got to be careful, Edward," he stated.

"Funny," Ed seethed as he glared at his commanding officer, "for a minute, it sounded like you actually _cared_. But I almost forgot. _You're_ the one sending me to the front!" He finished coldly. Mustang's body gave an involuntary shiver as he stared at the blonde.

"I am not the one who requested you to be sent into the war, Full Metal. That would be General Haruko. He knows of your exceptional alchemical skills and requested that you be sent along with myself," said Mustang, as he sat back down in his chair.

"You're.... You're going too?" Ed blinked once. Twice. Three times and scowled as the older alchemist nodded solemnly.

"Unless you think you can do this by yourself, Full Metal. It's such a _big_ job for such a _little_ person, after all." he replied sarcastically.

Ed crossed his arms over his chest and glared at him. He could not believe that Colonel Bastard was insulting him _now_, after he had just received possibly the worst news of his life.

"You can glare at me all you want, Full Metal, but it won't change the fact that we're leaving tomorrow. By the way, the train leaves at 9 in the morning. You are to meet me at the train station. Don't be late. I am giving you the rest of the day off to go and pack your things. Understood?" Roy asked with an air of indifference.

Edward's glared daggers at him with his cold eyes. '_**If looks could kill,'**_ Roy thought to himself, **_'I'd be dead.'_** Roy saw nothing but pure loathing in those eyes, and it was meant completely for _him_. It saddened Roy to think that the boy...no, the young _man_ disliked him so much. The Colonel may not have shown it very well, but he cared about his subordinates. _Especially_ Edward. Roy wasn't sure if he felt some kind of parental protectiveness over Ed, but he had admitted to himself that he cared about Ed's well-being.

"_Understood_?" Roy repeated himself.

"Yes, _sir_," Ed spat out. And then he did something Roy never had expected to see in his life. Edward Elric, the Full Metal Alchemist, the loud and obnoxious shrimp-sized pain-in-the-ass that everyone had become so used to, actually _saluted_ Colonel Roy Mustang, whose jaw dropped in shock.

Coming from any of his other subordinates, a salute was somewhat a sign of respect for your superior. It was expected. Coming from Edward Elric...it was just the opposite. Instead of feeling respected, Mustang felt as if Edward had just slapped him across the face.

"You're dismi-" Roy had started to say, but he realized that the teen had already left while he was recovering from the shock.

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Ed slammed the door to his and Al's hotel room, flung himself onto his bed, buried his face into a pillow, and he _screamed_. Al stood by his own bed and stared at his older brother. He wanted to comfort Ed, but he didn't know what had happened to cause him to be so upset. He tried to walk over to his brother quietly, but the clanking of his armor gave him away. He sat on the edge of the bed and waited until Ed looked at him.

"Brother.... What happened? What's wrong?" He questioned as calmly as he could.

"It's all that damned bastard's fault," he said, knowing that it was not the Colonel's fault at all.

"Colonel Mustang?" Al asked, fiddling with his loincloth.

"Yeah. Him. Al.... Shit, this isn't easy to say, but...but," he let out a frustrated groan and brought the heels of his hands to his eyes and rubbed them gently.

Al waited patiently for his brother to say what he had to say.

"Al, I'm being sent to war!" He said a little louder than he had meant to.

"What?! But Ed, you're only seventeen! You can't be serious! There are plenty of other men! _Older_ men with more war experience than_ you_! You can't go! I don't want you to get hurt, Brother." The armor's expression didn't change, but Al's voice became weaker and a dry sob escaped.

Ed clenched his fists as he tried to stop his own tears from falling.

"I'm going, Al. So is that bastard of a Colonel. But you're not," Ed said in a quiet but very firm voice.

"But Ed! I could help! This suit of armor makes me basically invincible, and you could hide inside of me while-"

"No, Al! I won't let you come with me. I don't want you to see the horrors of war. I've heard plenty of war stories around here, and none of them were happy stories! I want you to stay with Winry in Resembool," Ed pleaded. His eyes were swimming with tears again as he begged his brother.

"But.... _Brother_," Al's sobs echoed throughout the small hotel room. Ed comforted his younger brother, and eventually decided that he needed to pack for the trip. He wasn't sure if he would need a military uniform or not, but seeing as how he did not have one, he did not pack one. Ed looked at his open suitcase that was laying on his bed. It was pitiful. He only had two other outfits that looked identical to the one he was wearing. He groaned.

"Al, I only have two changes of clothes! I might be there for...a while," he stated, not wanting to say "months" or "years", because that might upset his brother even more. Edward pulled a small wallet out of his pocket and looked inside. He certainly had enough money to go shopping, and it wasn't as if Al needed money, because he couldn't eat food anyway.

Al easily looked over his shorter brother's shoulder and peered into the wallet.

"You should go shopping, brother," Al said as if he had read Edward's mind. "It's not as if _I_ need the money. Just don't go crazy, and leave some money for food on the train ride there."

Ed smiled softly at his younger brother. Al was always thinking of others instead of himself.

"Yeah, alright. Wanna come with me? I could use an extra pair of arms," said Ed as he stuffed his wallet into the pocket of his trousers.

"Alright," Al nodded.

The two brothers walked out of the hotel room and down the stairs. As they walked out of the hotel, a cold gust of wind smacked Ed in the face. He shivered and pulled his red cloak tightly around himself. He quickly walked down the sidewalk and dashed into the nearest store. Al followed at his heels.

The bell above the door jingled as they entered the cozy store.

"Oh, so warm," Ed chirped, grinning. Al laughed at the sight of his older brother. Ed's cheeks were tinged with a soft pink while his nose was a light red.

"What's so funny?" asked Ed as they browsed through long-sleeved shirts.

"Oh, nothing," Al lied as he pulled a few shirts off of the rack. He turned around to look at the selection of men's pants. He picked up a pair and held them out at arm's length to inspect them.

"Too long in the legs..." Al muttered. Luckily, Ed hadn't heard him; his brother was still looking at the shirts.

"Hey, Brother? I'm going to go ask the cashier if there's a...another selection of pants. I'll be right back," he said, nervously.

"Okay, Al. I'll be right here," Ed replied, moving onto the boxers section. Al ran off to the opposite side of the store where the girls clothing was at.

He found a small pants section and began browsing. He hoped his brother wouldn't see him from across the store. He noticed that the pants section was a bit small, because girls didn't typically wear pants too often. But, nevertheless, he found three pairs of blue jeans and two pairs of black slacks for his brother.

Ed was in the same spot when Al came back.

"Here you go, Brother. I want you to try these clothes on in the fitting room over there," he pointed to a couple of stalls in the back of the store. Edward eyed the garments suspiciously, but he took them from Al and walked over to the fitting room and into one of the stalls. Al chuckled inwardly at the mental image of his brother wearing _girl_ pants.

A few minutes passed by as Ed got dressed, but he finally emerged wearing a red and black plaid shirt, black pants, and shiny black shoes.

"Uh...Al, these pants.... They fit, but they're..._hugging me_," Ed said as he looked at himself in a big mirror on the wall. He turned around and around, checking himself out. Although he would never admit it, Ed liked the way the pants hugged his every curve. They made him look...well..._sexy_!

"They fit perfectly, Brother!" Al exclaimed happily. He was proud of himself for having picked out the outfit Ed was sporting. He could tell his brother liked it too.

"Alright. Next outfit," said Ed as he locked the dressing room door again.

Al listened to the sound of clothes rustling and being thrown on the floor. Ed unlocked the door and slipped out of the stall. Al actually squealed when he looked up.

"Brother! You look fantastic!" Al clapped, and even though Edward couldn't see it, he knew his brother was smiling.

The blonde took a minute to admire his reflection. He wore a white turtleneck that hugged his well-toned body. Anyone would be able to see that the older Elric had a chest and stomach _to die for_. He was wearing the second pair of black trousers and the same pair of shiny black shoes.

"I _do_ look pretty sharp, don't I?" Ed said in a joking tone, but he wasn't really joking. He realized that he had been standing in front of the mirror for a few minutes and scowled.

"I refuse to turn into a conceited bastard like that idiot Colonel," he stated matter-of-factly and turned on his heel. He walked into the dressing room and began to undress once more. Al snickered at his brother's actions.

"Brother, it's okay to actually _like_ how you look. That's not being conceited," he said, trying to comfort Ed, who replied with an incoherent grunt.

"Last outfit, okay, Al? I'm tired of playing dress-up. I still need to get some other things. It's already three o'clock," Ed voice carried through the door. He stepped out of the stall and looked up at his brother expectantly.

He was sporting a pair of _sinfully tight_ blue jeans, his regular boots, and a black long-sleeved shirt with a V-neck.

"I really like it," Al said, truthfully. He nodded in approval and gathered all of the clothes while his brother changed back into his normal attire. Once he was done, they paid for the clothes and walked out of the store with two big bags of clothing and shoes.

Ed fished his wallet out of his pocket and looked inside.

"Still got plenty of money left!" He said in a cheerful tone. He was trying to be as optimistic as possible even though he felt anything but happy. He was still upset, because...well, he was being sent to _war_! He couldn't shake off that feeling of uneasiness, but he kept up his happy act as he walked into another store.

Ed coughed as he inhaled all of the different scents in the small store. It was a girly store, but it had all of the bathroom necessities. He made his way to the front of the store and paused to take a whiff of some different body sprays.

He looked around and spotted the shampoo and soap section. His eyes roamed around the shelves until they rested on a green bar of soap. He grabbed that along with two bottles of shampoo, wondering if he would ever get to use it. Once he was satisfied, he made his way to the counter and paid for the items. The cashier wished him a good evening and put the products in a small bag.

Afterwards, Ed stopped by the market and bought some food for the train ride as well as dinner for that night.

The Elric brothers talked the entire way back to the hotel about random things. They skirted around the subject of war, Ed noted thankfully. He opened the door to their hotel room and walked inside. Al set the bags on his own bed and began taking things out while Ed pulled his dinner out of a bag and chowed down.

It took Al the better part of an hour to pack everything into his brother's rather large suitcase, but he felt accomplished when he finished. He looked up to see that his brother had already fallen asleep next to an empty box of what used to be his dinner. He chuckled and covered his brother with a blanket, willing himself not to cry as he remembered what tomorrow would bring.


	2. Chapter 2

**(A/N: I apologize for this chapter, because it is pretty much uneventful to the extreme, but all of it is necessary. The next chapter will be better, hopefully. Please review!)**

Sunlight snuck its way into the hotel room through parted curtains and slowly illuminated every object in the room, including a snoring blonde alchemist who was currently sprawled out on his bed. The sunshine emphasized the golden color of his messy, braided hair.

The white sheets were haphazardly twisted around Edward's legs, while the pillow that had once rested under his head, was on the floor. His snores gradually grew softer until they subsided completely. He grumbled incoherently and furrowed his brow as he used his Auto-Mail hand to swat at a fly buzzing around his head.

There was no denying the telltale signs of sunrise. The slight warmth on his face. Birds chirping happily in the distance. The light even flooded through the protection of his closed eyelids, mercilessly, as if it were silently mocking him...telling him he couldn't go back to sleep even if he wanted to. The day had come for him to leave Central. To leave Amestris. To leave his younger brother, Winry, and all of the familiar faces.

He peeked through a barely opened eyelid, trying to convince himself that it was still nighttime. But reality reared its ugly head, and Ed found himself groaning loudly at the realization. It was definitely morning.

He kicked back the sheets that had latched onto his legs and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with his flesh hand. His Auto-Mail fingers clumsily pulled his braid over his right shoulder and removed the red hair band. Ed ran his flesh fingers through the knotted mess and combed through it to the best of his ability. Once again, he found himself considering cutting the braid off, but quickly pushed the thought out of his head along with the image he had conjured. Edward Elric with _short hair_. He grinned at the thought. _**'Now that would be a disaster,'**_ he thought as he braided the golden locks. He tied the red band securely around it and swung his legs over the edge of the bed.

He duly noted that his feet did not touch the floor, as he sat on the edge of the mattress. He grimaced when he thought of the remark the Colonel would have made at that moment. _**'Well, I'm going to have to deal with his smart-ass comments for a while....'**_ he thought as he cringed with dismay. _**'Eight hours on a train with that bastard. Someone really has it in for me, that's for sure.'**_

His arm instinctively tugged on the chain attached to his pocket watch and flipped it open. 7:45. Ed sighed and tucked it into his pocket as he stood beside the bed. He took a moment to stretch before trudging to the kitchen area where his brother was cooking breakfast.

"Oh, Brother! You're up already! Breakfast is almost ready. Just a few more minutes. Go ahead and sit down at the table," he gestured with the hand that wasn't holding a frying pan. Ed smiled appreciatively at the seven foot tall suit of armor that was his brother and did as he was told. There was a slight tension in the air. Neither of the brothers wanted to talk about what was inevitably going to happen in nearly two hours. Ed would be leaving for Aerugo, but neither brother would say it.

Even though the armor's helmet was expressionless, Edward could see plainly that his brother was upset. He suspected that if the armor could produce tears, he'd be seeing them. Lots of them. Twice he opened his mouth to speak, only to close it again. He was at a loss for words.

Al hummed as he covered the table's surface with plates and plates of food. Bacon, eggs, French toast, sausages, muffins, syrup, bananas, apples, and orange juice. Ed sat, slack-jawed as the different aromas drifted up into his nostrils.

"Al...you didn't have to cook all of this," he began, looking up at his younger brother. He immediately stuffed half of a muffin into his eager mouth and barely swallowed before cramming the rest of it inside.

"I know, but I wanted to. I want to be sure you're full before you g-" he stopped in midsentence, unsure of whether or not to continue. He decided to go for it.

"Before you go...." Al let a dry sob escape him, as he dropped into the chair across from Ed.

"T-this could be the last decent meal you eat for a long t-time, Ed. I DON'T WANT YOU TO GO!" He screamed in a high-pitched voice, not caring if he sounded like a toddler throwing a tantrum. He broke down and started sobbing his heart out.

Across the table, Ed hadn't even touched the remainder of the food. Instead, he bowed his head and tried to stop his own tears from escaping. His shoulders shook with the effort, but the tears broke free anyway and streaked down his cheeks. A strangled sob escaped through his lips as he wept. He clenched his fists, realizing his brother had moved to his side.

"Please, Ed. St-stay here," Al's voice quivered with emotion. Ed shook his head jerkily.

"I can't, Al," he tried to sound calm, but the façade was transparent. "Orders are orders. I'm a dog of the military, and-" he hiccuped, "they're pulling my leash. So I've got to follow. I haven't got a choice," he looked up with a wry smile on his face. More tears spilled over the brink of his eyes as he choked out another sob.

The younger brother wailed loudly in protest, but otherwise made no other attempt at changing the older alchemist's mind.

Neither of them spoke a word until the grandfather clock in the living room chimed, wordlessly telling them it was 8 o'clock. Ed wiped his face with his left hand and stood. Only Al's sniffles were heard, as he walked into the bedroom area. He looked at the dirty clothes that littered the floor and shrugged, picking up a black long-sleeved shirt, a black wifebeater, a pair of dark green boxers, some socks, and a pair of black pants. He frowned as he heard his brother's quiet sobs echoing around the small hotel room. No birds were singing. The sunlight that had filled the room earlier was gone. Dark grey clouds covered the glowing orb of light and warmth that was the sun. Ed made his way into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. He dropped the clothes on the countertop and leaned against the door for a minute. He glanced at his reflection in the humongous mirror behind the counter. His face was splotchy with tear stains, and the whites of his eyes were now a vivid red color. He grimaced at his pathetic reflection and turned the shower on.

Ten minutes later he emerged from the shower and slung a white towel around his waist. He tried to braid his hair with trembling fingers. While the shower had rid him of red eyes and a splotchy face, his emotions were still running high. He swore quietly as his Auto-Mail fingers caught on a knot in his hair. He ran his flesh fingers through the tangled mess and started all over again.

He swore considerably louder the second time and undid the poor excuse for a braid. He didn't have time for this. He pulled his hair back and upwards, smoothing the hair on the top of his head before wrapping the hair band around it, effectively trapping his hair into a ponytail. Of course, his bangs escaped the clutches of the hair band and fell to frame his face. It would have to suffice.

He pulled on the boxers to rest snugly on his hips, and hurriedly forced his legs into the black pants. He quickly buttoned and zipped them. He clapped his hands and touched the top of his head. He felt the wet hair become dry almost immediately. It had taken Ed a long time to perfect the technique, but he finally had gotten it down pat. Sure, he had set his head on fire a few times, but that didn't matter now. He put on his wifebeater and grabbed the long-sleeved shirt.

He was careful not to let his Auto-Mail get snagged on the shirt as he slipped it over his head and put his arms through the sleeves. It was snug, that much was certain. Bending over, he first slipped on a pair of socks and then his regular red and black boots. He looked at his reflection once more. He imagined Mirror Ed giving him a thumbs up and a smug grin as he checked himself out. The image made him chuckle bitterly as he tucked his dirty clothes under an arm and walked out of the bathroom. Thankfully, he remembered to get his wallet and pocket watch out of the other pair of pants and put the items in the pocket of the pants he was wearing.

He carelessly threw the garments into the laundry basket and pulled out his pocket watch. 8:25.

"Damn it!" Ed cursed aloud as he grabbed his suitcase. Al appeared at his side and they nodded at each other. Together, they ran out of the hotel room and down the stairs. Ed dragged his suitcase on the ground behind him. _Thunk, thunk, thunk_. It hit each stair on the way down to the lobby, but Ed didn't care. The train station was within walking distance, but it took around twenty minutes to get there.

As the cold winter air brushed its fingers across Edward's face, he shivered violently. His red cloak and black jacket were packed away in his suitcase. No time to fish them out. He cursed his luck and pressed on anyway. Al's metal feet were clanking in an annoying, loud manner as he quickened his pace to catch up with his brother.

"Brother, promise me something," Al said in a soft but firm voice that Ed rarely heard him use.

"What is it, Al?" He almost whispered as he panted for air. _**'Damn. Stupid suitcase is weighing me down.'**_

"Promise me that you'll come back. And in one piece," there was a hint of fear and desperation in Al's voice that made Ed want to flinch guiltily. He sighed and switched the suitcase from his Auto-Mail hand to the flesh hand. The muscles around the port (socket) of his Auto-Mail arm ached terribly.

"Of course, I will, Al. You _do_ realize who you're talking to, don'tcha?" He grinned confidently, although he was anything but, "The Fullmetal Alchemist. Nothing can stop me. I won't let it, Al. I'm coming back, no matter what. I promised we'd get your body back, and that's exactly what I'm gonna do when I get back."

He really wanted to believe that nothing could stop him. He knew if he died, there would be no way for him to come back. Even though he knew better, he let himself believe that there was nothing in the world that could stop him from coming back to Central. Not even death. He latched onto that thought as the train station loomed into view.

_**'I'm gonna come back alive. I'm gonna come back alive. Gotta stay alive for Al,'**_ he repeated the words in his head until he was at the train station. Despite it being early in the morning, a large crowd of people exited the first train of the morning. Men and women alike stepped off the train and walked their separate ways. Ed dropped his suitcase and doubled over, trying to catch his breath.

He pulled his pocket watch out of his right pocket. His honey colored eyes squinted at the open watch. 8:52. He returned the watch to its proper place and looked around.

He frowned when he saw no sign of "Colonel Bastard". He stood on his tiptoes and let his eyes scan the crowd once more. Nothing.

"Hey, Al. Can you see any sign of Colonel Bas-" he was interrupted by a voice a few feet behind him.

"Looking for me, Full Metal?" Ed cringed. There was no mistaking that voice. He could almost _hear_ the smug smirk in his commanding officer's voice. He turned to see said "Colonel Bastard".

Roy was dressed in his usual blue military-issued uniform, with his rank proudly displayed. He held the handle of a suitcase that was slightly smaller than Ed's. The man looked somewhat tired, but still somehow apparently very appealing to all of the giggling women passing by. Ed couldn't form his lips around an answer to the Colonel's question, so he wisely kept his mouth shut.

Fortunately, everyone started boarding the train at that moment. Ed turned slowly to face his brother. He looked up and smiled softly.

"Don't worry, Al. I'll write whenever I get the chance. I'll be back before ya know it. I promise," his voice cracked as he blinked tears away from his eyes. Not caring that his brother wouldn't be able to feel it, he stepped forward and hugged Al, who was already sobbing quietly. He felt cold metal wrap around him, and he genuinely smiled. The train's whistle blew, and the conductor called for everyone to board the train.

Ed tore away from his brother, picked up his suitcase, and looked at Mustang. For a brief moment, there was a flicker of emotion in the older man's eyes. He couldn't be sure if it was pity or sympathy, but before he could get a closer look, it was gone. His eyes displayed nothing more than acquaintanceship as they stared into Ed's own amber orbs.

Before he knew what was happening, he was being ushered onto the train and into a compartment with Mustang. He pulled the window down and leaned far out of it as the train began moving ever so slowly. He easily spotted his brother amongst the crowd and waved casually as if he were going to see him tomorrow.

"Bye, Al! See you soon," he yelled. "Don't get into any trouble! Oh, and you can keep ALL the cats you want! At least CALL Winry, and tell her what's going on!"

He laughed as his brother gave an excited squeal and waved furiously; Ed was actually afraid that Al's arm was going to fly off. Soon, his brother was becoming just a speck in the distance, and then he saw nothing but grassy plains and a dark sky. He shivered as he realized just how cold it was outside, and he hastily pulled the window back up. Mustang was sitting across from him, staring out of the window, apparently lost in thought.

Ed noticed that Mustang's suitcase was already stored on the luggage rack above his head. Way above his head. He let out an irritated growl before turning his attention to his own over-sized suitcase.

He picked it up easily enough, but looking up at the rack, he decided that getting it up there was not going to be an easy task. He felt Mustang's eyes on him as he lifted his suitcase high above his head. A _bang_ let him know that the top of the suitcase had hit the edge of the metal shelf. He stretched his arms as far as he could and even stood on his tiptoes, but he still could not reach.

Mustang snickered rather loudly as he watched the scene before him. Ed's face was flushed, he was on his tiptoes, and holding above his head a suitcase that looked almost the same size as the alchemist under it. Oh, this was priceless.

"Up yours, Mustang," Ed snarled viciously, as he gave one last attempt to rid himself of the suitcase. He jumped into the air and practically threw the suitcase onto the shelf which resulted in a series of _thunk_s and _bonk_s. He smiled satisfactorily as he took the seat directly opposite Mustang, who had a smirk gracing his lips once again.

"Nice job, Full Metal. And it only took you a whole _five minutes_ to put a _suitcase_ on a _rack_," he stated in a matter-of-fact tone, but the words were dripping with sarcasm.

Ed scowled on cue and glared at the raven-haired man opposite him. Instead of rising to the bait, he crossed one of his legs over the other and stared out of the window. It was then he realized the snacks he had brought along were all packed away in his suitcase along with a few random books. He groaned with dismay and slapped his flesh hand over his eyes, willing the world (_**'the world that so obviously hates me,'**_ he added mentally) to disappear.

"What? Did you _just_ realize how short you actually are or-" Mustang teased, but the expression on his face was serious.

"I'm NOT short! It's just that EVERYONE ELSE IS A FUCKING _GIANT_!" He yelled, indignantly. So much for not rising to the bait. He tried to control his flaring temper as he crossed his arms across his chest and glared at the passing scenery outside.

Seconds turned to minutes and minutes turned to hours as Edward stubbornly refused to talk to his superior officer. He blatantly ignored the man's attempts to grab his attention.

_**'How can anyone look so perfect and act so far from it?'**_ Roy pondered, inwardly. He almost cursed aloud for thinking the thought that had just passed through his mind, but he stopped himself and studied the young alchemist.

His eyes traveled up to the blonde hair that was pulled back into a tight ponytail. His bangs had escaped the clutch of the hair tie and neatly framed his angular face. Pronounced cheekbones were stained with a tinge of pink due to the cold weather that had somehow seeped through the windows and invaded the train. Warm, honey-colored irises stared unblinkingly at the scenery, unaware that he was being "inspected".

The black shirt clung to the younger man's muscular physique. Roy unashamedly let his eyes roam over the blonde's torso and down, down, downwards. His subordinate's voice plunged him back into cruel and merciless reality.

"Colonel..." he began, uncertainty clouding his voice.

Roy felt embarrassed and slightly ashamed, thinking Ed had caught him staring.

"I beg your pardon, Full Metal," he said in his most business-like voice.

"What? I was just gonna ask you...if...." He trailed off as the Colonel raised a dark eyebrow.

"Out with it, Full Metal. I haven't got all day," said Mustang, snidely.

"Nevermind. I'll do it myself," Ed snarled angrily, but kept his voice quiet.

He stood on the navy blue seat and gripped the edge of the luggage rack with both hands. He used his flesh arm to stretch over the side and feel around for his suitcase. He felt a handle and yanked it towards him a bit too forcefully. The suitcase flew towards him and collided, rather painfully on Ed's part, with his chest. Needless to say, he lost his balance and hit compartment's sliding door with a humongous _thud_, before sliding down to the floor.

"Behold, people of Aerugo, the almighty Fullmetal Alchemist," said a voice that sounded suspiciously like Mustang. The suitcase was sitting innocently between Ed's legs as if it hadn't tried to kill its owner. Mustang tried not to laugh as Ed rose from the floor, grumbling about "homicidal suitcases".

Ed knew his chest would be bruised later on, but he didn't care at the moment. He dropped into his seat and opened the offending suitcase to pull out a small bag of chips and a glass bottle of Pepsi-Cola.

**(A/N: Sorry to interrupt, but did you know that a bottle of Pepsi cost only **_**5 cents**_** in the 1910's****? Yeah. I know. Wow.)**

He grinned triumphantly and closed the suitcase, not bothering to put it back up in case he needed it again. Ed popped open the bag of chips and shoved a handful into his mouth while he snuck a glance at his commanding officer. The man was sitting in a way that Ed had only seen him sit once before. He was slumped forward, using his knees to rest his elbows upon. One of his hands cradled his chin as he watched the clouds outside darken even more.

Ed saw a tiny fleck of a raindrop hit the window, and it was soon followed by countless others. He sighed. It always soothed him to hear the soft _pitter patter_ of rain pouring on the roof. The roof of a train or a house, it did not matter.

He continued to crunch on his chips until a loud grumble filled his ears. His eyes flitted over to the source of the disruption, the slouched figure of a blushing Roy Mustang. As the dark-haired man sat up, his stomach seemed to roar with anger at its owner, who was apparently not feeding it as often as he should.

Ed shot him a knowing grin and opened his suitcase once more. He felt around for another bag and pulled it out along with another bottle of Pepsi-Cola. He held them out to Mustang with a small smirk on his face. The Colonel took the offered snack and gave Edward a meek nod.

"Don't think I don't appreciate this, but the Full Metal I know would have laughed at my expense and stuffed his face in front of me. Are you some kind of imposter?" The Flame Alchemist joked lightly as he popped off the cap of the Pepsi-Cola bottle.

Ed shrugged as he thought of an answer.

"Thought I'd try being civil towards you. I mean...we're going to be seeing a lot more of each other from now on," he answered, grimly.

Roy nodded in agreement.

"A toast," said Ed, as he raised his bottle, trying to lighten the mood, (which was made difficult by the dark, stormy sky) "and a promise...of coming back alive!"

Mustang raised his own bottle toward Edward's. _Tink_. And they each took a hearty swig.

Nearly an hour passed as Ed asked Mustang about the living conditions of war. The only answers he got out of the man were "we're going to be living in a tent," and "I'm going to be stuck in a tent...with _you_."

Edward found himself grinning despite the horrible-sounding living conditions he was going to have to endure.

"What could you possibly be happy about, Full Metal?" Roy asked, eager for his subordinate to let him in on the apparently good news.

"I'm going to be able to annoy you all day..._and_ all night," Ed howled with laughter. Roy groaned and buried his face with his gloved hands and stayed like that until a voice sounded over the intercom.

"We have arrived at the border of Amestris and Aerugo. Please exit carefully without any shoving."

Ed looked out of the window, disbelievingly. He checked his pocket watch for the time. 5:05 in the afternoon. Right on schedule. As he tucked his watch carefully into his pocket, he saw a streak of lightning flash across the otherwise dark, gloomy sky. Not shortly afterward, a low rumble of thunder sounded in the distance. _**'Perfect,'**_ he thought as he stood up. A frown from the Colonel told him that the older man was thinking the exact same thing.

"Well, I'm no use in the rain, so there wouldn't be a point in the thirty minute walk to the camp in the pouring rain," Mustang explained more to himself than Ed. He heaved his suitcase down from the rack and into his vacated seat.

"The General didn't give an exact time to be there, did he?" Ed asked as he closed his suitcase and lifted it up. Other passengers flooded out of their compartments quickly, so Roy followed their lead, and Ed followed Roy.

Mustang shook his head, indicating a negative response. As he stepped off of the train, the cold air bit into the delicate skin on his face. He involuntarily shivered and looked behind him for Ed. Sure enough, the short blonde was dragging his suitcase along behind him with considerable effort. Roy considered taking his suitcase for him, but the younger alchemist would surely hit him and yell at him for thinking he wasn't capable of carrying his own luggage.

Fat raindrops hit the top of Roy's head and another flash of lightning made him look up as it illuminated the land around him. A short distance away, he saw a sign that read "Sherlock's Hotel", and not too far away was the building.

He reached blindly behind him and accidentally touched Ed's chest instead of his shoulder.

"Hey! What do you-" Ed started, but he realized what Roy was staring at.

"I don't suppose you have any money on you, do you?" Roy asked, hating the fact that he was already soaking wet. He turned to look at Ed, and his eyebrows shot up at the sight before him. Ed was shivering and soaked to the bone with his face scrunched up. The sight was oddly..._cute_.

The younger man was oblivious to the older man staring at him, and he merely raised an eyebrow at the question.

"Why? Don't you have money?" Ed asked as his body gave another involuntary shiver that seemed to chill his very soul.

"One doesn't usually take very much money to war, unless they're planning on getting it stolen," Mustang replied. "I have enough for a few decent meals, but that's it."

Ed sighed and looked down at his now muddy shoes. "I've got enough for a single room for one night at a hotel and a decent meal, I think. I kinda splurged before I came here...."

Roy nodded. "So.... To the hotel?" He suggested, hoping the answer was of the affirmative type.

Ed allowed himself a small smile. "To the hotel!"

The two alchemists ran as fast as their legs would carry them, each with a suitcase in hand and the same destination: A dry, warm hotel room with hopefully more than one bed.


	3. Chapter 3

**(A/N: I wanted to make this chapter really calm and relaxed, because this will be the last time our two favorite alchemists will be able to relax for quite a while. I know it's not the best or the longest chapter, but I will be done with the next chapter soon. Enjoy!)**

"I'm numb," Ed complained, as he watched Mustang open the door to their hotel room. His blonde bangs were plastered to his rosy red cheeks, and his teeth were chattering violently. He followed his commanding officer into the dimly lit, foul-smelling room. Ed felt his insides churning at the odor that filled the small room.

"What is that smell?" Mustang demanded, setting his suitcase on one of the twin-sized beds.

"Dunno," Ed replied, throwing his suitcase on the other bed, which gave a horribly loud _CREAK_. He glared disapprovingly at the bed and walked around the room, trying to warm up. He was still very cold. Ten minutes of walking in the winter rain was nearly too much to bear. He desperately wanted to go back to his and Al's cozy hotel room in Central. A frown played on his lips as he thought of how many stray cats his brother had probably snuck into the hotel room.

The Colonel was looking around the room in search of the source of the horrendous stench. Ed wanted to barf, because the smell was so strong. His eyes watered as vomit made its way up his esophagus. He choked it down and helped Mustang with his search.

"I wonder..." Ed trailed off, walking over to his bed. Mustang stood behind him, his ebony eyes trained on the bed. Ed grabbed his suitcase and set it down on the floor.

"I'll make sure that you don't die, Edward," the Colonel said in a mock-reassuring tone.

"Oh, _Roy_, I didn't know you _cared_," Ed cooed, as he gripped the side of the bed with both hands.

"Oh, I don't. I just don't want to be blamed for your death," he stated.

Ed rolled his eyes and quickly flipped the bed onto its side and stepped away.

"Holy shit!" Ed shouted in surprise as several large cockroaches scuttled across the carpet and disappeared into the cracks in the walls.

"That is disgusting," Mustang said, but he wasn't talking about the roaches. His gaze was focused on the floor, where there laid three dead mice. Ed gagged as the horrible odor filled the room, stronger than before.

The small blonde ran to the door and wrenched it open, taking big gulps of fresh air. Mustang was at his side in a second, panting heavily.

"I can manage to throw away the dead mice, but I can_not_ sleep in a room full of bugs," Ed said, firmly. His hair was still dripping, and he was still very cold. Only then did he remember that he could do alchemy.

"Oh yeah!" Ed exclaimed, grinning slightly. He clapped his hands and touched the top of his head. His hair became dry almost instantly, and Roy watched in amazement. He touched the fabric of his shirt and then his pants, and both garments were dry in a few seconds.

"Wow, Full Metal. Impressive," he complimented, secretly hoping Ed would be kind enough to do the same thing to the his own soaking hair and clothes. Ed must have noticed the small shiver that ran through Roy's body at that moment. The blonde smirked and met Roy's gaze.

"You want me to warm you up?" He asked. Roy, being the pervert he was, chuckled at the younger alchemists's choice of words.

"Sorry, kiddo. I don't swing that way. And even if I did, I wouldn't go for tiny shrimps like you," said Mustang, nearly grinning at the way the words were already affecting the younger alchemist. He knew it was the wrong thing to say if he wanted dry clothes, but he couldn't resist the temptation. Something about picking on Ed was so satisfying.

"I didn't mean it like that!" Edward glared at the Colonel and walked back into the room. Roy chuckled quietly as he turned around to watch Ed from the doorway. He had transmuted something like a small shovel and was scooping the dead mice into the trash bin in the corner of the room.

Roy wondered how a man could look so feminine. It wasn't just the ponytail that made Ed look feminine; it was everything about him. Roy studied the young man as he turned around to tie up the trash bag. He had high, soft cheekbones, a small nose of a delicate design. The tip of his nose turned up ever so slightly. Large, amber eyes focused on the task at hand. His light pink lips were parted slightly into a frown as he grimaced at the odor.

Bangs fell around his face, framing it. His hair was thin and fine. It looked like golden silk. The blonde was slim and somewhat muscular from what Roy could see. _**'Full Metal would make a very lovely woman,' **_the Colonel decided.

Ed opened the only window in the room and shivered as soon as he did so. Rain poured down endlessly. A flash of lightning lit up the entire sky. A loud clap of thunder was enough to make Ed jump back from the window. He grabbed the bag of deceased mice and threw it out of the window, where it fell three stories down and, in all probability, landed in the street.

The Colonel opened his mouth to protest, but it was too late. Ed saw the look of disapproval on Mustang's face, and shrugged.

"It's not my problem anymore," he said, while yanking Roy's suitcase off of the other bed.

He grabbed the side of the bed with his Auto-Mail hand and flipped it over. A few more cockroaches crawled out and disappeared into the cracks in the wall, but there were no dead vermin to be found. Ed shuddered as he watched the cockroaches run away, but made no move to kill them.

A magnificent clap of thunder sounded and the single lightbulb that hung in the middle of the room flickered for a moment. It came back on, but the light was dimmer than before. Ed swore quietly under his breath and flipped the beds back over into their proper positions.

Mustang closed the window and walked into the tiny bathroom, closing the door behind him. Ed sat down on the bed he had chosen and pulled off his black, long-sleeved shirt, his shoes, and then his trousers, which left him in only his dark-green boxers and a black wifebeater. He tossed both garments on the floor between his bed and Roy's bed.

Goosebumps formed on his skin, but quickly vanished as he slid under the covers. He smiled as he listened to the rain pounding on the roof. A low rumble of thunder sounded in the distance.

The door to the bathroom opened, and Ed peeked through his eyelids to see Roy walking out of it. He didn't want the older man bothering him, so he pretended to be asleep. He continued to watch through his nearly closed eyelids as the Colonel came to a stop beside the other bed. The dark-haired man sighed heavily and unbuttoned his uniform jacket with nimble fingers. The jacket fell to the ground, which surprised Ed. He had thought the Colonel cared more about his precious uniform.

Roy kicked off his shoes and unbuttoned his trousers and pulled them off as well, tossing them next to the jacket on the carpet. He unfastened the many buttons on his white button-up shirt and shrugged it off of his shoulders. It floated down to rest on top of the heap of clothing on the floor.

Ed choked on his own spit when the Colonel took off his shirt. The man had _abs_. Unfortunately, Ed fell into a coughing fit when his saliva traveled down the wrong tube. Mustang turned around to look at his subordinate, whose eyes were still closed. Ed continued to cough, so he finally gave up and kicked off the blankets. He sat up and coughed into his flesh hand for a minute before it finally subsided.

"Have you got a cold?" Roy asked, watching him from the other side of the room. Ed shook his head.

"I'm fine. Now go to sleep, bastard," Ed choked out, before coughing once more. A clap of thunder drowned out the sounds of his coughing, and the lightbulb flickered again before it finally gave up and went out.

Darkness engulfed the room, and Ed's heart hammered in his chest. He wasn't very fond of being in a dark room, especially if he was with another person. The only person he trusted completely was Al, but he wasn't here. Maybe Ed was just paranoid from having experienced so much at such a young age, but he had a fear of...well he didn't exactly know.

He knew that he was afraid of the dark, because he couldn't see what was going on around him. For all he knew, a serial killer might have been hiding in the bathroom. He convinced himself that that was highly unlikely, being that Roy had emerged from the bathroom, unharmed. And then there was Roy, himself. What if the man really _did_ hate him, and sought to kill his subordinate right now? Ed shook his head and focused on the noises in the room.

A _creak_ from the other side of the room told him that Roy had sat down on a bed. The only other sounds he could hear were the rain pounding on the roof and tiny shuffling noises, probably from mice or roaches. He shivered involuntarily.

"You okay, Full Metal?" Roy's familiar voice comforted him somewhat. The man obviously wasn't going to kill him if he was asking if he was alright.

"Yeah," Ed gave a shaky chuckle and cringed at the way his voice sounded. His voice resembeled that of a frightened child, trying (and failing) to be brave. Just then, he felt something with tiny legs crawl onto his foot....

"AHHH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFFA ME!" Ed yelled, as he kicked his legs wildly and dove under the bed covers, pulling them over his entire body, head included.

"What?! What's wrong?!" Mustang said in alarm. Ed mumbled incoherently.

"Full Metal?!" Mustang called out into the darkness, fear flooding him.

"I'm fine," Ed snarled, rubbing his foot on the mattress, trying to erase the feeling of the bug's tiny legs on him.

"What happened?" The Colonel demanded.

"Nothing," Ed said, trying to end the conversation.

"Tell me _now_, Full Metal," Roy said in that stupid no-nonsense voice of his.

"No," Ed replied.

"You know, Edward, when we go to the rest camp tomorrow, you and I will both be under a commanding officer. You have to obey their orders, or you _will_ get into some _serious_ trouble," Roy explained.

"Like I care," Ed replied, nonchalantly.

"Oh, you'll care if they give you the death penalty," Roy argued.

"They can do that?" Ed asked in an incredulous tone.

"Let's see, striking a superior officer can result in death. Disobeying a lawful command, penal servitude. Using threatening language to a superior officer, penal servitude. Behaving in a scandalous manner, cashiering," Mustang listed on his fingers, even though he knew Edward couldn't see them.

"Cashiering?" Ed questioned.

"It means a degradation ceremony. And it's public. Epaulettes ripped off of your uniform, your medals thrown on the ground, caps knocked off your head, that sort of thing," the Colonel explained.

"Oh," was Ed's only answer.

"So you'd better get used to answering questions, Edward. And obeying your superiors."

Ed rolled his eyes and uncovered his head. Still, he saw nothing but black.

"It was just a bug. It surprised me is all," he explained.

Mustang gave no reply, but Ed could have sworn he heard a chuckle. A few minutes of silence was enough to lull Edward into a deep sleep, apparently, because Mustang heard a soft snore coming from the other side of the room.

"Edward?" He called out into the dark, but he got no reply except another snore. He smiled and shook his head, laying down as well. He fell asleep listening to the storm, but what comforted him the most was the slow, deep breaths coming from the only other person in the room, Ed.


	4. Chapter 4

**(A/N: Again, an uneventful chapter. I promise promise PROMISE the next one will be slightly more...eventful. XD Please read and review! Next chapter coming soon!)**

When Roy woke up, the hotel room was still nearly dark. He stretched and pushed himself into a sitting position. He looked at the nightstand beside his bed, but no clock was to be found. _**'No, of course there wouldn't be a clock. The world must have something against me or one of my ancestors,'**_ Roy mused, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

His feet hit the carpeted floor, and _crunch_. He cringed, realizing he had stepped on a cockroach. _**'Yuck,'**_ he thought, rubbing his foot on the carpet, ridding himself of the bug's guts.

He stood and slowly bent over to grab his trousers. _Pop_. His back popped as his fingers brushed the stiff fabric. _**'Must be getting old,'**_ Mustang sighed and dug around the pockets for his pocket watch. His fingers closed around the cold metal and pulled it out of the safe haven that was the pocket.

5:45 in the morning. He yawned and sat down on the edge of the bed, facing the window and the other bed. He squinted to see the younger alchemist. A thin blanket was wrapped tightly around the small, slumbering form. Mustang wondered if he should wake up the younger man, but decided against it.

His uniform was still damp, he realized with a frown. Now he would _have_ to wake Edward, so the blonde could dry his uniform for him. Mustang sighed and reluctantly walked over to the sleeping blonde's side of the room.

"Er.... Full Metal?" He said, cautiously. The small figure entangled in the sheets did not stir.

"Edward?" The Colonel poked him gently on his left shoulder; Edward's back was towards him.

"Edward, wake up. We have to get ready to leave. I'd like to be there at oh-eight-hundred hours," he said in his most demanding voice.

No response.

"Ed!" Roy barked, shaking his shoulder, none-too-gently.

A little mumble.

Mustang was amazed that Ed hadn't woken up yet. He'd tried almost everything to get him up! He checked his pocket watch. Nearly 6 in the morning. He would have brought up some breakfast from downstairs, but judging by the condition their hotel room had been in upon arrival, he decided that he didn't trust the employees with the food.

_**'Well, I still have enough money for a decent meal.... I guess I could use it for breakfast today,'**_ Roy thought, as he studied the sleeping figure. _**'I'm so nice.'**_

"Full Metal. WAKE UP!" He bellowed into Ed's ear, and jumping back quickly to avoid swinging limbs.

"What the _fuck_ do you think you're doing, Bastard?!" Ed growled, as he immediately sat bolt-upright in bed. Ed grabbed the pocket watch out of Mustang's hand, opened it, and then threw it at Mustang, who barely caught it.

"It's six in the _fucking morning_! What the _hell_?! Why would you wake me up at such an UNGODLY HOUR?!" Ed was on a rampage. Roy had never seen him this angry, and truth be told, it scared him a little.

"Edward, I was just trying to-" Roy explained, backing up as Ed stood on the floor. Sure, the blonde barely came up to his shoulders, but right now, he was about the most intimidating person Roy had ever seen, Armstrong included.

"Shut up, Mustang," Ed was standing about a foot away, rubbing his temples.

"Give yourself a headache, Full Metal?" Roy smirked.

"Shut up," Ed snarled, shivering. "It's cold in here. And...." he trailed off, staring at his nearly naked commanding officer.

"And...?" Roy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh...." Ed coughed. "It's...nevermind. What time do we have to be there?"

"I'd like to be there around oh-eight-hundred hours, but we probably don't have to report to the Major General until oh-nine-hundred hours," Roy stated, picking up his uniform and tossing it on his bed.

Ed walked over to his suitcase and opened it, picking out some clothes to wear.

"That's right.... You don't have a uniform, do you?" The Colonel piped up, noticing Ed's actions.

"Nope," Ed replied shortly.

"You should probably transmute one," Roy stated in a tone that was anything but suggestive; it sounded like a command.

"Why?" Ed snapped his head up to glare at his Colonel.

"Because it's more presentable," he said, nonchalantly. "Hey.... Do you think you could dry these for me?" Roy gestured to his damp uniform and gloves laying on the bed. Ed rolled his eyes and walked over to the bed, not looking at Roy as he did so.

"Stop acting so nervous, Ed. Today's only the first day. I doubt we'll be sent into the trenches until about the fourth or fifth day," Roy tried to comfort his subordinate, but failed spectacularly.

The war wasn't the only thing that had Ed nervous. Something about being next to Mustang while he wore...well...nothing but boxers...was...nerve-wracking. Ed snuck a glance at well-toned stomach muscles and a nicely formed chest. He could feel a swirling sensation in his lower stomach and knew that it wasn't a good thing.

He hastily clapped his hands together and tried to perform the transmutation, but failed, because his concentration was lacking _horribly _due to the close proximity of the other man.

"Would you _get off of me_? _Damn_!" Ed snapped, his eyes trained on the heap of blue uniform. Roy took a step back, but Ed could practically _hear_ the unspoken question of "what the fuck?". He shook his head and dried the uniform and gloves as fast as he could and bolted for the bathroom. Roy, puzzled, stared after him and blinked several times.

"Uhh...okay?" Roy said to the empty room. He shook his head and pulled on his uniform trousers.

Ed leaned on the closed door and closed his eyes. _**'What the hell is wrong with me?'**_ he thought. He turned on the shower and stripped all of his clothes off. _**'Just need to think things over in a nice, hot shower.'**_ And with that, he stepped into the tub.

Roy heard a scream coming from the bathroom and ran over to the door.

"Ed?!" He yelled through the closed door. All he could hear was the sound of water running. He banged on the door with his fists. The sound of running water ceased and moments later, Ed emerged with a towel wrapped around his waist, shivering violently. It looked as if he hadn't even bothered to dry off.

"What's..." Roy trailed off, taking in the appearance of the other. His blonde hair was dripping water, forming a small puddle around the young alchemist. Little beads of water slid down his body and disappeared below the towel. Roy suddenly felt that his own trousers were a bit too tight.

"F-f-fucking f-freezing w-water. No hot-t-t water," Ed's teeth chattered. Roy sighed in relief.

"I thought you were dying, the way you screamed," Mustang said, finally finding his voice.

Ed glared at him, still trembling. Mustang chuckled and walked back over to his bed, slipping on his white, button-up shirt.

"You'd better get dressed. We're going to grab some breakfast before we leave," explained the Colonel, his fingers moving fast to button his shirt. Ed's ears perked up at the mention of breakfast.

"FOOD!" He yelled, delighted. He trotted over to his own clothes and dried them. He took the Colonel's advice (for once) and piled his clothes together. He clapped his hands and transmuted all of the garments into a uniform. It looked identical to Mustang's, minus the evidence of a few ranks. Trousers, a top, boots, and a hat, which nobody really wore unless it was an important occasion. He was pleased to see that the uniform looked like the perfect fit for him.

He yanked his suitcase to sit beside him and started pulling out clothes. A white, button-up shirt, much like Mustang's...just smaller, black boxers, and a white wifebeater were tossed on top of the heap of uniform on the floor.

Ed stood up and sauntered into the bathroom. Puddles of water were all over the floor and counter. Ed shrugged and grabbed his dark green boxers and black wifebeater from off of the soaking wet counter. His clothes were somewhat wet, but it didn't matter to him. He walked back into the bedroom area and threw the garments into his suitcase.

He glanced at Mustang who was almost done getting dressed. Ed hurriedly grabbed all of his clothes and headed for the bathroom, yet again. He closed the door and whipped off his towel, putting it on the floor to absorb the puddles. He set the clothes down on the lid of the toilet and took the boxers into his hands, pulling them on.

He only thought about the coldness as he got dressed. He was absolutely freezing. He clapped his hands and dried his hair, before turning his attention back to the task at hand. Once he was done, he turned to look at his reflection, only to realize that there was no mirror. _**'Cheap-ass hotel,'**_ Ed thought, irritated.

He separated his hair into three different sections, but thought better of it. _**'I don't have that much time.'**_ Besides, he had grown quite fond of his ponytail from the day before. He pulled his hair into a ponytail, letting his bangs escape once more. Ed looked at the hat sitting on the toilet and decided to put it on. He made sure it would fit on his head, and pushed it down, making it rest snugly on his head.

Roy tapped his foot, impatiently, waiting for the Fullmetal Alchemist to come out of the bathroom. He checked his pocket watch. 6:50. He sighed, using a gloved hand to mess with his hair. He stopped, realizing that there wasn't a hat on his head. He dove for his suitcase and pulled it out, sighing in relief. He smashed it onto his head just as the bathroom door opened.

Roy tried his hardest not to laugh. Edward looked like nothing more than a kid in a State Alchemist's uniform. His lips betrayed him, and he fought to keep them from forming a smile.

"You look constipated," Ed said, his eyes locked with the Colonel's.

"At least I don't look like an elementary schooler," Mustang retorted, his grin turning into a smirk.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A SHRIMP-SIZED BEAN-SPROUT MIDGET?!" Ed shouted, shaking his Auto-Mail fist, threateningly.

"Why, I would have thought it obvious, Full Metal. _You_," Mustang replied, with an innocent expression on his face. Ed was just about to go on another rampage when somebody knocked on their door.

Ed looked at it, curiously, and opened it, revealing a big, burly man with no hair on his head except for a bushy mustache and even bushier eyebrows.

"Can I help you?" Ed glowered at him, as if daring him to mock his height.

"Sorry, kiddo-" Ed twitched at this word, "but you gotta go. And yer buddy too. We got too many complaints from several different people. Said you was bein' too loud," the man's deep voice filled the otherwise silent room.

"Whatever," Ed mumbled. "We were on our way out anyway."

Roy appeared at his side with two suitcases in hand. He handed one of them to Ed, and they pushed past the gigantic man. As soon as they were out of hearing-range of the big man, Ed snickered. His laughter rang out into the empty hallway, and once they got to the stairs, the younger man was doubled over with laughter, clutching his side with his only available hand.

"May I inquire as to what is so amusing?" Mustang looked at the blonde, quizzically.

"Oh man. Haha. Didn't you notice it?" The blonde cracked up again. Mustang waited for Ed to collect himself.

"Notice what?" Asked the Colonel, descending the stairs.

"That guy looked like he could be Major Armstrong's long-lost brother or something!" Ed laughed again.

Roy compared the mental images of the two men and burst out laughing.

"I guess you're right! They looked almost identical, now that I think about it," Mustang laughed some more.

Ed smiled as he watched the Colonel gasp for air.

"You should do that more often," Ed said, without thinking (as usual).

"Do what?" Mustang asked, still chuckling.

"Laugh," Ed replied, trying to cut off the conversation, so he wouldn't have to explain himself. He had never been good at that though.

"I suppose...." Mustang trailed off, as they stepped out into the cold, crisp morning air. Ed swore loudly and pulled on his hat to try to cover his ears to protect them from the cold.

Roy could see his breath coming out of his mouth in clouds. His mind had dropped the conversation they had been having, and now he could focus on nothing but the biting cold. He grabbed his pocket watch and flipped it open.

7:10.

"This will have to be a quick breakfast, Ed," Roy stated, staring at the clouds his breath was creating. Ed said nothing, but nodded, and they walked south, towards the camp, but in search of a nice restaurant.

After a fifteen minute walk, Ed had given up all hope of finding a place to eat, and he resorted to staring at the cracks in the sidewalk as he walked briskly. The gusts of wind felt like a knife to his skin. He was surprised it hadn't snowed yet, as cold as it was.

"Here!" Mustang's voice made him jump. Ed looked up with sheer joy on his face.

It didn't look very inviting, but Ed couldn't bring himself to care. He dashed for the door and wrenched it open. Mustang followed behind, and was disappointed to find out that it wasn't much warmer inside.

Ed sniffled as he sat down at a small, square table for two. The Colonel sat across from him, took his hat off, and they waited. Ed snuck a glance at the man sitting across from him. His usually pale face was tinged with all shades of red and pink. His lips looked chapped and rough because of the wind. His ears were a light shade of pink, and his onyx eyes were hidden and then revealed by fluttering eyelids. The man looked as if he was trying to ward off sleep, and failing terribly.

An attractive waitress walked up to the table. She smiled at the two alchemists.

"'Ello. May I take yous arder?" She spoke in a thick accent that was unknown to Ed. She was probably Aerugian. Mustang looked up and flashed her a charming smile.

"Yes, please. I'll have two eggs and a slice of toast. And a glass of milk," Mustang's eyes roamed over the woman's figure, shamelessly. Ed rolled his eyes and huffed, still shivering slightly.

"And yous?" The woman turned her attention to Ed. Her eyes lit up.

"Aww! Yous so cute! Ees he your son?" She asked Mustang, smiling brightly at Ed still.

_**'Uh oh,'**_ thought Mustang, shaking his head vigorously.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU SAY? WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM, LADY?! CAN'T YOU SEE THE UNIFORM? I'M HIS _COMRADE_!" Ed yelled, indignantly, throwing his hands up in the air. He panted and gave her his most sour expression.

The woman shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot and scoffed at him.

"Terribly sorry, _sir_. And vat vould _yous_ like to eat, _sir_?" She gave him a stern look. Ed crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the menu.

"Three eggs. Two sausages. Two pieces of toast. Orange juice," he spat out, not taking his eyes off of the menu.

The waitress stalked off, muttering to herself in Aerugian, no doubt about Edward's behavior.

Ed looked up from the menu to see the Colonel staring at him.

"_What_?" Ed jeered. Roy sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger. Ed's foul mood was putting _him_ in a foul mood, and that definitely wasn't what he needed at the moment.

Minutes passed by, and the waitress came back with the food and drinks. She smiled at Roy, but glared at Ed and might as well have _dropped_ the plate of food in front of him. Roy thanked her, and she strutted away, leaving the two men to devour their meals.

Ed stabbed one of his sausages and shoved it into his mouth, mercilessly. Roy cringed and felt sorry for Ed's breakfast. The second sausage was stabbed with the same fork and doomed to the same fate as its twin. Ed cut up his eggs, noisily.

"Ed, you know that you don't have to butcher your food before you eat it, don't you?" Roy asked, cutting up his own eggs with a certain finesse that Ed apparently lacked.

Ed said nothing, and he continued to attack his food.

Once they were full, Roy left the remainder of his money on the table, they grabbed their suitcases, and walked out of the restaurant.

The sky outside was growing brighter every five minutes. Roy admired the almost orange sun and the clouds all around it. Even though it was freezing outside, the sunrise was nothing short of beautiful. It always cheered Roy up to see the sun rise from below the horizon and into the sky.

Roy thought it a shame that hardly anyone else in this town was awake to witness this beauty. The sunrise was one of the only reasons he got out of bed so early. That, and if he was late to work, Riza would put a gun to his head.

He thought about the rest of his friends as he continued to walk down the sidewalk with Ed following closely behind. He never realized that he might actually miss Riza, Hughes, Havoc, Fuery, and the rest of the officers at Central. He had grown accustomed to their rants and arguments and mindless chatter. He cared for each and every one of them. He cared deeply for them. He knew that he would do anything to protect his friends. And the Elric brothers...he did not know if it was just a parental protectiveness he felt for them, but he cared about them as well.

Roy pondered on this as they turned onto a dirt road, heading southwest. Sure, he felt protective of the two brothers, but he wasn't sure if it was entirely parental. He felt nothing like a father figure to them, but as far as Edward went, he knew that there was nothing parental about the way he felt about the young man. Hell, they couldn't even be labeled as _friends_. He wondered about this for a long time. So long, in fact, that by the time he dropped the subject, he was standing in front of an iron gate.

The sign above it read "Amestrisian Rest Camp". He looked at Ed, who had suddenly gone rigid.

"We're here, Ed," Roy said, softly, as two military officers in green uniforms opened the gates.


	5. Chapter 5

"So, you two are the State Alchemists we sent for, right?" The soldier on the right asked.

"Yes. I'm Colonel Roy Mustang," Roy stated, simply.

"Didn't realize we'd be getting a girl. And a pretty one, at that," said the one on the left, looking Ed up and down with a smirk on his tan, dirt-streaked face.

"You wanna say that again, you fucking creep?!" Ed screamed, raising his fist at the soldier, threateningly.

"Holy shit. You're a _guy_?!" The soldier screeched, jumping back as Ed swung at him.

"Do I sound like a girl to you?!" Ed yelled, chasing after the man who was running in a big circle.

"No, but you sure as hell look like one!" The man retorted, tripping Ed with his foot. The blonde fell flat on his face, and glared up at the soldier, who walked away as if nothing had happened. The man on the right held out his hand to Ed.

"Sorry about my friend. He's...well, he's a pervert. It can't be helped. Trust me," he said, pulling Edward to his feet, "he's a lost cause. I'm just sorry that you were on the receiving end of his flirting."

"Yeah. Me too," Ed mumbled, walking beside this man, while Roy and the perverted soldier were following closely behind.

"I'm Paul Gadsby, by the way. But call me Gizmo. Everyone else does. And my buddy that was shamelessly flirting with you earlier...that's Harvey Sumner," he grinned, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

Ed nodded, turning his head to catch a glimpse of the rest camp.

"My name's Edward Elric. Call me Ed though," he replied, craning his neck to see more of the camp.

Many small grills were set up around the middle of the camp. To the north of the grills, were hundreds of identical white tents. To the east of the grills, there were more white tents and a few very small grey buildings. To the south, there were around ten navy blue tents. To the west, there was one lonely green tent.

Gizmo led them all over to an enclosed booth on the east side of the camp.

"Hey there, Burns. These are the new fellas we sent for about a week ago. Ed Elric," he pointed to the blonde, "and this is...Colonel Roy Mustang, right?" He asked the Colonel, who nodded.

"Yeah. We'll be needing their uniforms," Sumner spoke up, stepping forward and leaning on the counter of the booth.

"What else?" The man known as "Burns" asked, turning around to go through the racks of clothing behind him.

"Three winter uniforms for each of them," Sumner waited until Burns threw them on the counter before continuing his list of combat boots, steel helmets, gas masks, knives, pistol belts, and bigger belts with quite a few empty pouches.

"Which weapons, Harvey?" Burns asked, rubbing his stubble-covered chin.

"Two automatic pistols for each. Eh, they're alchemists, but you can never be too prepared," Sumner said, sagely.

Burns set all of the listed items on the counter and nodded. Ed opened his suitcase and stuffed everything inside, except for the boots, with some difficulty. Roy grabbed his own items and put them in his suitcase without any problems.

"Alright. Your tent is that green one over there," Gizmo pointed to the single, pathetic-looking tent on the west side of the camp.

"You should get your stuff put away, and the Major General will be with you in about a half hour or so," Sumner explained, choosing to look at Roy as he said this, because he was still embarrassed about the earlier incident with Ed.

Mustang nodded and left for the tent, followed by Ed.

------------

Gizmo pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and turned to grin at his comrade.

"Sooo...you think Ed's pretty, eh?" Gizmo nudged Harvey in the ribs with his elbow, as they walked back to the front of the gate. Harvey sighed heavily, his breath taking the form of a little cloud.

"Shut your trap, Gizmo," he said, clenching his jaw. He took off his hat and ruffled his dark brown hair, ridding it of dried flakes of mud.

"Just trying to help you see the light, is all. He's the closest thing I've seen to a woman in _a while_. Everyone else will be trying to get a piece of that, I'm sure. I'm just saying that maybe you should make a move before someone else does," Gizmo managed to turn a chuckle into a cough.

"...You're one sick bastard, you know that?" Sumner replied.

------------

"I mean, do I really look like a fucking _woman_?!" Ed had been on a rampage for nearly ten minutes.

"Hmmm...." Mustang stroked his chin, thoughtfully. "I'd have to say yes on that one, Ed."

"_What_?! You bastard!" Ed growled. He grabbed the Colonel by the front of his uniform and pulled him down to his level.

"I said you look like a _girl_. A pretty girl though," Roy froze, shocked by his own choice of words.

"_WHAT_?! You're an unimaginable bastard," Ed sat down on the floor and drew a blanket around his shoulders.

Roy didn't trust himself to speak after what he had just said.

"I'm tired.... We don't even have a freakin' mattress," Ed complained, loudly. So loudly, in fact, that the Major General outside the tent heard.

"That can be arranged," a voice stated from outside of the tent. Ed and Roy looked at each other, puzzled, and crawled out of the entrance of the tent.

A tall man in a blue uniform stood before them, staring down at them. The Colonel scrambled to his feet at once, but Ed took his sweet time getting to his feet.

Both alchemists saluted the Major General.

"At ease," he stated, and the two alchemists each dropped their hand, although their backs stayed as stiff as a board. Ed nervously thought about the warning Mustang had given him about respect for superiors. He barely repressed a shudder.

"I believe I overheard you talking about a mattress, didn't I, Full Metal?" The General talked as if they were old friends, holding a casual conversation.

"Yes," he stated. "Sir!" He added quickly, seeing a look of disapproval flicker across the older man's face.

"Well, you could certainly transmute one, could you not? The only thing you aren't allowed to do is to make the size of your tent bigger. We wouldn't want the other soldiers thinking you were receiving special treatment, now would we?" He looked at the blonde, sternly.

"No, sir," Ed answered. His back was starting to ache terribly.

"If we can produce enough materials, I think you could transmute a mattress for every tent in this camp. Wonderful idea! Good thinking, Full Metal," the man laughed.

Ed wondered if the man was bipolar. Or even _sane_.

"I'll send the orders right away for some materials. Now then, as far as your service goes...at least once a week your help will be required in the trenches, and almost all days of the week, you will have tasks to do around the rest camp. Nothing the two of you can't handle, I'm sure," the General said, casually.

"For now, you can rest. We've handled draining most of the rain from the storm last night. I've already got men helping with the trenches. Rest yourselves. You'll need all the energy you can get," he excused himself and walked off.

"Unusual...." Mustang muttered to himself. He shrugged it off and turned to look at Ed.

"What?" Ed looked around, trying to figure out what Roy was looking at.

"Are you going to transmute a mattress or what?" Roy asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms over his chest.

"What if I said no?" Ed questioned, but looked around for materials anyway.

"Then I'd have to kill you," Mustang replied with an utmost serious expression on his face.

"You couldn't if you wanted to, bastard," Ed muttered to himself more than to the Colonel.

Ed looked around their tent and found only a single patch of grass about as long as he was tall. Deciding it would suffice, he clapped his hands and transmuted the grass into a very lumpy, barely bigger than a twin-sized mattress. _**'Well...it's better than the cold, hard ground.'**_ He took another look at the pitiful-looking mattress. _**'I think.'**_

Mustang kneeled down and pressed his hand down on the poor excuse for a bed. His hand's pressure made that area of the mattress sink down towards the ground. He lifted his gloved hand, but the dent did not bounce back. It stayed there, adding another deformation to the bed's already hideous appearance.

"Wow, Full Metal. _That's_ the best you can do? I'm appalled," the Colonel stated, flatly.

"Blame the shitty material, also known as GRASS, that I had to work with! It's better than nothing, isn't it?" Ed snapped back, pushing the mattress inside of the tent. Needless to say, it took up most of the room. He shoved his and Roy's suitcases to one side of the tent and pushed the mattress up against the other side. Mustang stooped down and walked in a crouching position into the tent.

"I'm gonna go walk around. Make myself familiar with the camp," Ed informed his Colonel, crawling out of the tent once more, not giving the man the chance to protest.

The wind whipped across his face like a cold knife. He crossed his arms over his chest and kicked at random rocks, as he walked idly toward the middle of the camp.

A small crowd was forming in near all of the grills, and soldiers of every size and age were lined up in a two lines, each with a plate in their hands. Ed watched as each of the soldiers received bread, meat, cooked potatoes, rum, two cigarettes and two cigars.

Many of the soldiers gave him curious looks, while a fair few of them gave him looks that could only be described as predatory.

Ed didn't stand in line, but he wove in, out, and around rows of tents, thinking of Al. Did his brother miss him as much as he missed his brother? Was he safe? Did Winry know about the situation yet?

He was so wrapped up in his thoughts, that he ran straight into someone.

"Sorry," Ed apologized, taking a glimpse up at the person. He recognized the bespectacled face from before at the entrance.

"Hey there, Ed," Gizmo grinned, stifling a yawn behind his fist.

"Hey, Gizmo. Not gonna eat?" Ed asked, falling into step beside the other man.

"No. I eat a little at lunch and an early dinner. I have a night shift guarding the main entrance. I sleep all day and stay up all night. My shift just ended. Time for me to get some shut-eye," he explained, taking off his hat to reveal a shock of short red hair.

"Oh, I see," Ed nodded, burying his hands into his pockets.

"What time is it, anyway?" Gizmo asked, approaching one of the many tents. As he pulled out his pocket watch, Ed wondered how the man could tell his tent apart from the rest of them.

"Nearly 9 o'clock. Er...oh-nine-hundred hours," Ed corrected himself, stuffing his pocket watch out of sight and, once again, burying his hands into the warmth of his pockets.

"No, no. It's nice to hear someone say it the civilian way for a change. I prefer it, actually," Gizmo's smile softened.

"Well, you'd better rest up," Ed gestured at the tent.

"Yeah, well, the same goes to you. You'll need it. Trust me. I'll see you at dinner, Major Elric," and with that, Gizmo disappeared into the tent.

He felt guilty that he had the luxury of a mattress, while the rest of the soldiers had nothing but cold, hard earth to sleep on. A frown played on his lips as he trudged wearily back to his tent.

He crawled into the small shelter and smiled at what he saw. The Colonel was already fast asleep on one side of the small mattress, which made it look as if he had been saving a spot for Ed when he returned. Any other man would have called this "common courtesy", but when it came to each other, they acted as if they weren't familiar with the term. For Roy to do an act of something this simple...Ed felt, well, honored in a way. Important, even.

He crawled steathily over to the sleeping form and lowered himself carefully onto the bed, which sunk down a considerable amount under his weight. His back was uncomfortably touching the ground through the mattress, but sleep somehow found its way to him and took him away.

The last thing he remembered before falling asleep was inhaling that sweet aroma of wood smoke and coffee. He remembered smelling that on the man next to him.... That...and he vaguely remember being _warm_ before drifting off to sleep.

**(A/N: Andddd, of course, as fate would have it, this week is my Exams week at school, so I'm sorry if I don't update for a few days. Sorry this chapter sucked. I'm stressed out and low on ideas. I'm working on a Christmas!fic though. lol. It's super short. Just a cheer-er-up-er. Reviews, please! Don't be harsh.)**


	6. Chapter 6

Roy woke up to the sound of somebody talking in his ear. Startled, he turned over to discover that it was Ed. The Colonel was about to tell him off for waking him up, but he realized that Ed's eyes weren't open. He was sleep-talking.

"Al.... I'll be back...." he said clearly, though his lips barely moved.

"Edward?" Roy poked his shoulder. No reply.

He sighed and sat up, flinching as he did, because the blanket slid off of his upper body. Although he was still dressed in his uniform, the air had gotten much colder. From what he could see through the slightly open flap of the tent, it was still daytime. Maybe mid-afternoon.

He pulled his pocket watch out and checked the time. 6:20 in the afternoon.

_**'Wow,'**_ he thought to himself as he yawned. _**'It wasn't even ten o'clock when I fell asleep. I've been asleep for over eight hours! So much for "just a little nap".'**_

As he slid out from under the blanket and crouched down to avoid hitting his head on the top of the tent, he was very tempted to snatch the blanket off of Ed and walk out with it wrapped around himself. He considered this for a moment before deciding to leave the blanket where it was.

He shivered as he put his hat on, covering his unruly hair. He decided to venture outside and walk around to see if there was any work to be done. Walking in a crouched position, Roy made his way to the flap of the tent and crawled out. He stood up completely and let his gaze sweep across the barren area. There wasn't much to see except for mud and a few rocks here and there.

He saw a few hills on the horizon, but other than that, there was nothing to look at. He sighed, his breath making a cloud as he did so. He hated Winter with a passion.

The man trudged through mud to the center of the camp, where a few soldiers were sitting around a few logs, trying to light a fire. Roy smirked as one of the men swore loudly as the one tiny spark he had created just disappeared. That was his cue.

"Step aside," Mustang ordered, no longer smirking. The men did as they were told and scrambled away from the fire as quickly as humanly possible.

He snapped gloved fingers, and a fire sprang to life, crackling merrily. The men gawked at him, bewildered.

"How did you do that?!" One of them asked, still in awe.

"Alchemy. Perhaps you've heard of me. I'm the Flame Alchemist," Roy boasted.

They all shook their heads "no" in unison. The Colonel glared at them.

"I've heard of the _Full Metal_ Alchemist, but not the _Flame_ Alchemist," one of them piped up, his hands hovering over the fire.

"Well, he's a subordinate of mine. I've taught him a thing or two," Roy smirked, yet he was still peeved about his name not being recognized.

"How to be a bastard, was the first lesson he taught me," a voice came from behind the Colonel, who turned around, caught off guard.

"Hello there, _Half_ Metal. We were just talking about you. All horrible, embarrassing things, I assure you," Roy said, as he took in the appearance of the other man; he was still not used to seeing Ed in that uniform.

Ed ignored the jab at his height, trying to act more responsible around the other adults, mainly so he would not be thought of as a child by anyone.

"You're the Full Metal Alchemist?" A big, beefy man asked, while he stood around the fire, warming his body. He turned so that his butt was almost on top of the fire.

"Yeah. What of it?" Ed shot back, already predicting the answer.

"Nothing. Just thought you'd be...ya know.... Older. And, uh, taller," he finished, not realizing he had basically just dug himself a grave.

"_WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SAY?!" _Ed yelled, swinging his flesh arm at the man, who dodged by a few inches.

"What the hell is your problem?! Calm down, man," the big man held up his hands as a form of surrendering.

Ed panted, trying to calm down as he glared at the man. The rest of the men scattered, running for the shelter of their tents.

"Sorry. Didn't think it would offend you so much. So what's your real name, kid?" The man asked, returning to the task of warming himself. Roy crouched down and balanced himself, trying not to fall over into the mud surrounding him. He sat there and listened to the conversation.

"I'm NOT a kid, and my name is Edward Elric. I prefer Ed though," said the blonde, doing the same as Roy.

The big man nodded, rubbing his hands together over the fire.

"My name's Robert Mount. Call me Bert," he smiled, revealing a few gaps where teeth should have been, and some extremely yellow teeth.

"My feet are falling asleep," Ed said out-of-the-blue.

"Yeah, mine too," said Bert, as he sat down on his behind in the mud. Ed was instantly reminded of a pig wallowing around in mud. Obviously, Roy thought so too, because they glanced at each other and looked away before they burst out laughing.

A bell sounded and men from all directions tumbled out of their tents and raced to the middle of the camp. A few men passed out plates to the men who were now waiting in two lines.

Ed spotted a blot of orange hair that stuck out from the rest of the heads. He jumped up and walked over to the man, leaving Roy to talk to Bert.

"Hey, Gizmo," Ed greeted the soldier, who held a plate in his hand.

"Oh, hey, Ed! Glad to see that you could make it in time for dinner," he said, taking Ed by the arm. He led him to the back of the line and stood behind him.

"You could've just told me to get in the back of the line. You didn't have to come with me," Ed grumbled, accepting a plate from a man who was passing them out.

"I'd have felt bad. Doesn't matter to me anyway. The food's not that great in my opinion. If you'd have cut in line, a fight would have broken out, nonetheless," Gizmo shrugged, taking a step forward as the line moved. Ed followed suit.

"I could've taken 'em!" Ed protested, rather loudly.

"Yes, yes, of course you could have," Gizmo replied, agreeing for the sake of avoiding an argument. He turned around to face Ed, only to wave at a person behind the blonde.

"Your boyfriend's here, Ed," Gizmo grinned, as Ed spun around.

Harvey Sumner walked up to stand behind Ed. His face no longer had dirt on it; he was actually somewhat handsome. Ed noted that, although Harvey lacked charm, he was definitely an option to consider if he ever found himself sexually frustrated.

"Hey. Sorry about earlier this morning. My lack of sleep's been catching up with me lately," the tan man explained, stretching with his hands in the air.

"It's not your fault," Ed sighed, subconsciously toying with his ponytail.

The line moved forward, and finally Ed received his rations. Meat, bread, potatoes, two cigars, two cigarettes, and some rum.

The three men walked over to the fire Roy had lit, to discover that Bert had left and Roy was sitting alone.

"You just suck at making friends, don'tcha, Colonel Bastard?" Ed asked, smugly, as he stuffed his mouth full of potatoes.

"At least I can get _women_," the Colonel shot back, licking his lips as the smell of food wafted through the cool air.

"I've had offers before!" Ed replied, defensively. Gizmo and Harvey chuckled as they listened to the banter.

"Oh? From how many men?" Roy raised an eyebrow.

Gizmo spit out some of his rum, while Harvey howled with laughter. From the dim light the fire provided, it was barely noticeable, but Roy could see the faintest tinge of pink on the blonde's cheeks. Whether he was blushing or he was just cold, Roy would never know.

The Colonel knew he had won the battle, so he rose from his position on the ground and stretched, walking over to where the food was being passed out.

When he came back, Gizmo was talking animatedly about something. Judging by the gestures his hands were making, he decided he didn't want to know. He waited until the rude hand gestures subsided before approaching the fire and the men.

"That's more than I ever wanted to know about your sex life, Gizmo," Harvey buried his face in his hands.

The redhead snickered and patted his friend on the back.

"It wasn't _that_ bad, Harvey. You act as if you've never thought about it before," Gizmo adjusted his glasses.

"_No_, I _haven't_, actually," he replied, glancing at Ed.

"What about you, Ed? You ever thought about it?" Gizmo asked, casually.

"No!" Ed answered, quickly. He averted his eyes to the glow of the crackling fire.

"Hehehe. I'll take that as a yes," Gizmo grinned, stacking his dinner plate on top of Harvey's. The redhead took this opportunity to wink at Harvey before turning his attention to Roy.

"And you, Colonel Mustang?" He asked.

"I'm afraid I don't have a clue as to what you're talking about," Roy stated, lighting a cigarette with a snap of his fingers. He cursed Havoc for introducing him to the damned things. It was such a nasty habit, smoking, but he couldn't quit.

"We're talking about having sex with another guy," Harvey clued him in.

He choked on the smoke he had just inhaled.

"No. I haven't," he said, taking another drag from the cigarette.

"Well, you'd probably best start considering the idea. You're going to be surrounded by men for quite a while. It's not so bad, if I do say so myself," Gizmo said, bemusedly.

"Ugh. Thanks for the mental image," Harvey grimaced.

"I think I just lost my appetite," Roy stared down at the food on his plate. He hadn't planned on eating the rest of it anyway.

"I'll eat it!" Ed volunteered, snatching the plate away from the Colonel.

"Well, we'd better get going. Our shift starts in a few minutes," Harvey explained, rising to his feet. Gizmo followed his example.

"Alright. See ya later," Ed waved as the pair waved and walked to the front of the camp.

"They're...interesting," Roy stated, staring after them.

"Yeah. They should keep things around here interesting for a while," Ed replied, stacking the plate on top of the other three. Roy nodded in silent agreement.

"We should probably get some more sleep. I have a feeling tomorrow's gonna be a pain in the ass," Ed said, standing. Roy grabbed the plates and handed them to Ed, who scowled.

"Put those in the basket over there," Mustang ordered. Oh, how he loved being in control.

Afterward, the pair trudged through more mud and reached their "cozy" tent. They silently wondered what tomorrow would bring. Ed tossed his cap onto the ground and sat down on the misshapen bed. He wasn't very tired at all, so he opened his suitcase to pull out a notebook and a pen. He took out another pen and transmuted it into a candle. An unlit candle.

"Er...Colonel? Could you light this for me?" Ed asked.

There was no response, but he heard a little _snap_ and the candle was lit. He set it on the ground next to the mattress and began writing a letter to Al.

Roy fell asleep listening to the sound of a pen scratching on paper. He hoped Ed would remember to blow out the candle before he went to bed, or else they would burn to a crisp. Roy convinced himself that that would only be an improvement, seeing as how he felt like a popsicle. And with that thought, he drifted off to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

The sun rose above the horizon, taking its sweet time climbing into the sky. The glowing orb illuminated a seemingly endless land of tents, buildings, and the occasional booth.

The morning call trumpet rang out, breaking the silence. Of course, a fair number of soldiers were already out and about, finishing up their shifts guarding the entrances to the rest camp.

The trumpet meant that it was 5:30 in the morning, Roy remembered, struggling into a sitting position. A second trumpet would sound at 5:45. The last trumpet would sound at 6, marking the beginning of a new day...and breakfast.

Roy stretched his limbs and shivered violently. _**'Mother Nature must have a grudge against me,'**_ he thought, ruefully. The cold bit his fingers as he hastily slipped his gloves on.

He blew out a cloud of breath and looked down at the younger man, who was still asleep. Small threads of golden hair rested on his face, while the rest was hidden beneath the blanket, yet undoubtedly pulled back into a ponytail or braid.

The Colonel hesitantly used his little finger to brush the strands of hair off of Ed's face, causing Ed's face to scrunch up. Roy snatched his hand back quickly, as Ed's left hand came up to scratch his nose. The older alchemist gulped as his heart threatened to jump out of his chest. If Ed had caught him doing that.... He shuddered, not wanting to think about the consequences.

He dressed himself in record time and hurriedly scooted next to Ed under the blanket. His teeth chattered noisily for a few minutes. No matter how much of the blanket he stole from Ed, he couldn't get warm. The blanket was too thin. The air was too cold.

The second trumpet made itself heard. 5:45. Ed slept on. Roy gawked at the blonde, with an incredulous look on his face. He envied the younger man for his ability to sleep through just about anything.

As much as he liked seeing the peaceful look on Ed's face, Roy reluctantly roused him by shaking his shoulder.

"Ed. Time to wake up," Roy said, still shaking him.

"Nnyah!" Ed gasped when the blanket was snatched off of his already freezing body.

"Rise and shine, Full Metal," Roy said, leaving no room for argument.

"B-bastard," Ed's entire body shook from the cold air. He didn't have enough energy to yell. He settled for a glare and moved to open his suitcase. He pulled out a green uniform and spread it out on the lumpy mattress, while he knelt beside said mattress.

Making sure his superior officer wasn't facing him, he pulled off the top of his blue uniform and tossed it in the open suitcase. He yelped when the cold metal of his Auto-Mail arm rubbed against the skin on his side.

"Full Metal?" Mustang turned around to see what the issue was.

"Nothing. My arm is cold, that's all," Ed explained, pulling down his pants. His back was turned to the Colonel, but he thought he could feel a pair of eyes watching him from behind. He said nothing and continued with the task of putting on his green uniform, which was difficult to do with shaky hands.

Roy's eyes roamed up and down the figure of the smaller man, trying to commit every muscle, every goosebump to memory. He stared as Ed tugged the pants up and over his black boxers. _**'Nice,'**_ Roy thought as he stared on. Then, he had an idea. An evil idea, yes, but an idea nonetheless.

He crept up behind Ed, still in a crouched position. When the blonde reached blindly around for his uniform top, Roy took the opportunity. He took off one of his gloves and set it on the ground. He let his fingertips brush ever-so-lightly across the skin on Ed's back. His fingertips scuttled up to Ed's neck.

"AAAAH! GET IT OFF! AAAAH!" Ed shrieked, losing his balance and landing on his chin with his butt in the air. Roy's laughter filled the tent as he fell forward onto the mattress.

"IT WAS YOU, WASN'T IT?! YOU BASTARD!" Ed yelled, lunging at his superior, who was still laughing hysterically.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU! THAT WASN'T FUNNY!" Ed shouted, as he jumped on top of the Colonel, punching every inch of skin he could get his hands on.

Eventually, Roy's laughter died off, and he began to fight back. It was a sort of wrestling match; it was the kind of competition Ed remembered from his childhood. He and Al used to fight like this all the time until they were out of breath. It wasn't anything serious - just to see who was stronger.

The Colonel flipped over, so he was on top, pinning Ed beneath him. The blonde growled and fought against the arms restraining his own. Of course, Roy's flesh and blood arm was no match for Ed's Auto-Mail one, so Ed broke free with hardly any problem.

Roy was impressed to say the very least. Before he knew it, he was the one being pinned to the mattress.

"Now then," Ed panted, staring down at the struggling form beneath him.

"You have to swear that you'll never do that again, and then I'll let go of you," Ed bargained.

"Never do what again?" Roy asked, raising an eyebrow. The cockroach thing or pulling the blankets off of him?

"The whole cockroach, creepy-crawly legs thing you did earlier!" Ed shouted.

Roy rolled his eyes.

"Fine, fine. I promise. Let me up," he ordered.

"Not just yet. You have to beg me for mercy, first," Ed grinned, wildly.

"What? That wasn't a part of the deal, Full Metal. Now get off of me," Roy panicked, feeling his pants beginning to pitch a tent because of Ed, who was squirming and panting on top of him at the moment. His cheeks flushed, as a not-so-innocent image raced across his mind.

"Beg. Beg like the dog that you are, Mustang," Ed grinned, wickedly, clearly enjoying the embarrassment he was causing the Colonel.

"Damn it, Ed! Get OFF!" Roy barked (no pun intended).

Ed was thoroughly confused. He leaned back a bit, studying the man beneath him.

_**'If he moves back any further....'**_ Roy let the thought trail off and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block any unwanted images from dancing through his head. _**'Maybe they aren't so unwanted....'**_ Roy thought, then mentally slapped himself.

"Fine," Ed said, shortly, climbing off of the disgruntled older man. He crawled out of the tent and made his way to the middle of the camp, leaving the Flame Alchemist to wallow in his misery.

Roy listened to Ed's footsteps fading away, and looked down at the growing problem between his legs. He sat up and sighed, willing his erection to leave; it didn't. He unzipped his pants, admitting defeat, and slowly stroked himself. He sighed, contentedly, and pumped up and down the shaft, rapidly.

He let images of Ed flood through his perverted mind. He imagined Ed as he had seen him just moments before: sweaty, blushing, and gasping for air. He knew he would scold himself later for thinking such things about his subordinate, but he didn't care at the moment.

Sure, he had fantasized about Riza a few times. Hell, he had even jacked off to the thought of a naked Scheizka once! They were nothing compared to Ed. Ed was a wild soul, and Roy was sure that he would be an _animal_ in bed. _**'Heh. Too bad he's probably a virgin.'**_

His hand sped up as his climax neared. He fantasized about Ed. He missed the feeling of the younger man on top of him, pinning him down, squirming, panting.... The image was too much to bear, and it sent him over the edge. He bucked into his hand and came all over the dirt ground, whispering a two-letter name....

-------------

"Ed!"

Gizmo shouted, jogging up to the breakfast line where Ed stood. He stood beside Ed, not wanting to cut in front of anyone.

A trumpet blew in the distance, telling everyone it was six o'clock: Breakfast Time.

"Hey," Ed grumbled, stepping forward in the line.

"You don't sound too happy. What's up?" Gizmo questioned, looking concerned. They walked together in silence as Ed ate his breakfast.

Just then, the Colonel brushed past the pair, heading for the breakfast line. Gizmo sensed something in the air, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Ah. Is it a lover's tiff?" Gizmo poked Ed's left shoulder.

"What the hell? No! We're not lovers or anything!" Ed retorted, mid-bite. A piece of sausage fell out of his mouth and onto the ground. The redhead snickered and then smiled apologetically.

Ed scowled.

"It's nothing," he reassured his new friend. Gizmo shrugged and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

_SNAP._

A fire sprang to life right beside Ed's feet. The blonde jumped back in surprise and accidentally bumped into a man walking by, causing said man's breakfast to fall to the ground.

"Hey, watch it!" The soldier shouted, spinning Ed around to face him so he could hit him.

Ed let out a low growl as the soldier's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Well, hello-o-ooo there. Say, baby, I won't beat you to a bloody mess if you do me a little favor. You _do_ owe me, after all," the man said in a low, husky voice.

"And just _what_ would _that_ be?" Ed snarled, clenching his fists.

"You could get down on your knees right now, and suck my d-" he never got to finish his sentence, because a swift fist connected with his jaw and knocked him to the ground.

Ed shook his throbbing left hand and pounced on top of the soldier, who was laying on the ground and on top of a few sausages. He felt hands pulling on him from behind, and he heard voices telling him to get off, but he ignored them all.

The soldier, being much bigger than Ed, easily flipped him over and held him down with all of his strength. Ed writhed beneath him, looking at Gizmo for help. Gizmo trotted off to where the Colonel stood. A small crowd had formed around them, trapping both men in a circle.

The bigger man licked his lips and sniggered. Some soldiers jeered and said things like "Can I have a go after you, Miller?". Other soldiers left, not bothering to watch the ordeal.

"When I'm through with you, you won't be able to sit down for _weeks_," said the man known as Miller.

Just as he reached for Ed's belt buckle, a spark of fire flickered right in front of his eyes. Then another, only closer. Miller jumped back as the sparks tried to touch him. He ran through the crowd at top speed, clutching his bottom as it caught on fire. He rolled around on the ground, eventually extinguishing the flame.

"Now, I'm afraid _he_ won't be able to sit down for weeks," Colonel Mustang's voice rang out.

Most of the men laughed heartily, and went their separate ways. Others glowered at Mustang for chasing away their only source of entertainment. One glare from the Colonel, however, was enough to send them scampering away at once.

Gizmo gave Ed a hand and pulled him up from the ground.

"You _bastard_," Ed growled, rounding on Mustang as soon as he got to his feet.

"What did I do this time, Full Metal? _Besides_ save your ass. Literally," Roy smirked; Gizmo chuckled a little; Ed didn't think it was very amusing though.

"It was _your_ fault in the first place! If you hadn't tried to set me on fire, I never would have knocked into him!" Ed said, accusingly. _**'The bastard doesn't even have the decency to LOOK ashamed!'**_ Ed thought, furiously.

"At least he saved you, Ed," Gizmo cut in, trying to keep the peace between the two.

"I don't _need_ saving!" Ed snapped, effectively hushing the redhead.

"Fine, Edward. Don't come running to me later on, crying because you were raped. My conscience will be fine, because I'll remember that you 'don't need saving'," Mustang retorted, watching Ed storm off in the direction of their tent. He sighed, rubbing his temples.

"Is he always this hot-headed?" Gizmo asked, timidly.

"Ever since I've known him. He was twelve when he first joined the military. Five years I've known him, and for five years, he's been the same, annoying, obnoxious, foul-mouthed, shrimp-sized idiot," Mustang said, reassuringly.

_**'But I wouldn't have him any other way.'**_

"Ah. Well, it'll be easy to win the war if we can get the Aerugians to hold signs up that read 'Ed's a midget'. He'd tear them limb from limb, I expect," Gizmo chuckled at the image he created.

Roy gave a humorless laugh. The image wasn't very funny in his mind. It terrified him to think of Ed enduring the pain of war. He was still only a child for goodness sake! Only seventeen years old. Roy neglected to remember that he, himself, had been around that age in his first war.

"Sorry, Colonel Mustang, but I'm gonna go get some sleep before my next shift," Gizmo said, yawning slightly behind his hand.

Roy nodded once and watched Gizmo walk away. He sighed, dejectedly, and walked over to the breakfast line to get some food.

****

(A/N: I know the whole scene with the soldier trying to rape Ed sounds a little unrealistic. I wasn't planning on him actually trying to rape Ed. Just freak him out or something. Plus, homosexuality in the 1910's and 20's was generally accepted. It wasn't exactly frowned upon in the military unless it was between a superior officer and a subordinate. Then, they could accuse the subordinate of "sleeping his way to the top", or having sex to get promoted. Next chapter will be soon. Review, please!)


	8. Chapter 8

Sometime around noon, Ed emerged from the tent. A little nap had rid him of his anger toward Mustang. Well...almost. He stiffened when he saw the Major General walking up to him. He saluted the older man and waited for him to speak.

"At ease, Major," he said in an intimidating voice.

Ed dropped his hand, but his back stayed straight. He wondered what the General wanted with him.

"We haven't gotten the materials for the mattresses or anything, but I - "

Roy chose that moment to walk up to the pair. He saluted the Major General, and when the General nodded, he dropped his hand as well.

"Afternoon, Colonel. Anyway, Major Elric, I have a few things I'd like you to take care of in the trenches," the old man continued as if he hadn't been interrupted.

"The trenches, sir?" Roy piped up, earning a stern look from his commanding officer.

"Not you, Colonel Mustang. Elric. I'd like to have him help improve the trenches. Only for a few days, I think. Meanwhile, Colonel, I'd like _you_ to help out around _here_," the General said.

"With all due respect, sir, Major Elric and I work best as a team," Roy's tone was anything but respectful. Had the General not been standing in front of them, Ed might have let his jaw drop. Mustang disrespecting a commanding officer? It was surely a sign of the end of the world.

"Well, after you have completed the tasks around here, I'll send you off to the trenches with Major Elric. But only _after_ you've done what needs to be done. Do I make myself clear, _Colonel _Mustang?" The old man emphasized his rank to remind Roy just where he stood and who he was speaking to.

"Yes, sir," Roy said through gritted teeth.

"Good. Elric, go meet up with First Sergeant Landry at the back gate. He'll take you to the trenches. As for you, Colonel, get to workin'," he flashed them both a smirk and walked away.

Roy muttered a few choice swear words under his breath.

"Why'd you give him that bullshit, Colonel?" Ed asked.

"And what do you mean by _bullshit_, Full Metal?" Mustang glared.

"That shit about us working best as a team," Ed quoted.

"I - you're not old enough to deal with the trenches by yourself, Full Metal. I thought maybe you'd like to be there with someone you knew, at least," the Colonel watched Ed's breath come out in visible cloud-puffs.

Ed stayed silent for a few moments. He opened his mouth to say something but shut it again. He shook his head and crawled into their tent and retrieved his pistol, his gask mask, his steel helmet, and his knives. He shoved the items into their proper holsters on his belt and crawled out of the tent. He jammed the helmet onto his head and put his hand on the butt of his pistol. With a single nod to Roy, he walked toward the back gate in search of...First Sergeant...Landry, was it?

Roy watched, sadly, as Ed became just a green and blonde speck in the distance. He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his gloved hands as he headed for the middle of the camp, dreading the chores he had to do.

--------------

"Which one of you is First Sergeant Landry?" Ed asked, glancing between the two men. A large, copper-skinned man stepped forward with a sly grin.

"That'd be me," he said, puffing his chest out importantly. He had a big, bushy mustache that covered most of his mouth - bigger than Major Armstrong's. Ed gawked.

"What'd'ya need, kid?" Landry asked, looking down at him with a mild interest.

"I'm not a kid!" Ed yelled, indignantly.

"Er.... Alright. Anyway, can I help you?" He asked, raising his bushy eyebrows.

"Yeah. I need to get to the trenches," Ed told him, still slightly fuming.

Landry nodded and motioned for him to follow.

"Keep your guard up," Landry told the other man who was guarding the gate.

The two walked down a long dirt road. It was muddy. Extremely muddy. It didn't help that all of this gear was weighing him down. The two men kept their silence for nearly two whole hours until Ed spoke up.

"How much further is it?" He demanded.

"Probably about a quarter of a mile. Not much longer," Landry gave him a quick smile. It disappeared just a fast as it had appeared.

As they drew closer, Ed heard the faint sounds of guns shooting, which sounded more like _popping_, in the distance. The road started growing more narrow. Ed fell in line behind Landry and followed closely. The gunshots grew louder and he could hear men shouting.

Ten minutes later, the road starting sloping downwards, though it wasn't steep. They continued down the path until there wasn't a path left to follow. They were partially underground now; Ed could tell. On either side of him, two walls of dirt towered above him. It was extremely narrow.

Ed almost bumped into Landry as he stopped suddenly.

"This is where I leave you. Just follow this path for a little while, and you'll find yourself in the communication trench. That's where everyone rests," he pointed up ahead. Ed nodded, nervously.

"Good luck," the man saluted him and walked away, back to the camp.

Ed trudged through the mud, which was becoming harder and harder to pull himself out of when he sunk. Gunshots sounded somewhere near. Ed put his hands on the dirt walls next to him and did his best to walk through the mud, which nearly came up to his ankles.

He saw a slight light up ahead and raced toward it. The walls slowly became wider and the ground became...wetter. Ed gasped as water rushed up to his knees. Extremely cold water.

A certain stench hung in the air, making Ed want to barf. _Squish_. _Squish_. _Squish_. His boots sunk into the muddy water with each step. He looked down as he stepped on something a little more solid. His eyes widened with horror as he gazed down at a face.

"Shit! I'm sorry, sir, I - " but realization struck Ed. He was dead. Ed gagged and trudged further into the communication trench. The path went on, but there was a turn to the right. Ed looked around the corner and saw a few men cleaning their weapons.

He decided to take his chances with these men rather than the dead man back there. He walked up to them, fixing his ponytail as he did so. They all looked up, simultaneously.

"Please tell me you're one of the alchemists we sent for," said the man leaning against the dirt wall.

"Yeah, that's me," Ed stated, studying the man. There was blood on his fingers and mud all over his uniform. He looked relatively young.

"Thank God," he replied, dropping his weapon. He shook Ed's hand, vigorously.

"Eh heh...." Ed gave him a small smile.

"We need your help. The walls aren't so sturdy since the storm we had a few days ago. This rain water's abso-fucking-lutely freezing too," he picked up his weapon and wiped it off with a dirty rag.

"Alright. Hmm...." Ed trailed off, putting his brain to work. He wasn't good when it came to working with water. Maybe he could raise the temperature of it, but he didn't want to risk boiling them alive....

"Tell you what. I'll fix the walls, but we'll have to wait for my commanding officer to get here before we can do something about the water," Ed looked at the three men. They all grinned at him.

"We'll take anything we can get, buddy. I'm Sergeant Myers," the man introduced himself.

"Sergeant Reynard," an extremely tall man raised his hand.

"Sergeant Davis," croaked probably the youngest of the group. What was wrong with his voice? Why was it so raspy?

"You should feel special. That's the most Davis has said since I met him," Myers chuckled.

Ed nodded and clapped his hands, resting them on the wall behind Myers. The wall straightened up considerably and looked much more sturdy than before. The three men stared at him as if sunlight was shining out of his ass.

More gunfire sounded in the air, startling Ed. The three men laughed.

"I'm not saying you'll ever get used to that, but don't worry, you'll be able to sleep through it after a while," Sergeant Reynard grinned at him, patting him on the back.

Ed went around fixing walls and weapons for the next two hours. The trenches were horrible. The smell was almost unbearable. The so-called "latrine" was the worst. It was a good-sized hole in the corner of the communication trench, with a bucket halfway buried into the mud. The rim of the bucket was just visible. The stench coming from said bucket was enough to make Ed's eyes water.

Twice Ed had stepped on dead bodies. The corpses laid in the mud with maggots eating their remains. Ed saw a rat the size of his foot scurry past with a piece of rotting meat in its mouth. The blonde alchemist sank down to his knees and heaved right there. There wasn't much to throw up, luckily, but dry heaves were almost as bad, if not _worse_.

Ed had no idea how long he had sat there, but he knew that the sun was starting to set. He had no desire to stay in the communication trench, so he joined Meyers, Davis, and Reynard in the reserve trench. He had not yet been up to the front trench.

He nodded to the three sergeants and traipsed up to the front. The sounds of gunshots and shouts gave him a splitting headache, but he ignored it and helped to the best of his ability. He repaired broken weapons, fixed dirt walls, and did whatever else he could to help the soldiers.

Suddenly, a man fell down to the ground, off of the ledge that let him see over the trench. He was dead. His gun lay beside him, abandoned on the ground.

"One man down! We need back-up! NOW!" A man shouted from somewhere near him. The man picked up the gun and thrust it into Ed's hands. He gave Ed a meaningful glance and returned to his spot on the ledge.

Ed looked down at the gun and gulped. He clambered onto the ledge and took a deep breath. It was now or never.... He peeked out over the edge of the trench. Barbed wire sat a few feet in front of him, giving him just enough room to prop his arm on the edge. He did just that and aimed at a small figure on the other side.

_**'What the hell am I doing?'**_ Ed pondered. A bullet whizzed right by his ear, causing his bangs to whip around his face. His heart pounded in his ears. _**'Is it really that easy to die out here?'**_

He aimed at the same small figure in the distance and pulled the trigger without a moment's hesitation. A shot rang out from the opposite side. He ducked just in time, as a bullet grazed the top of his steel helmet. He jumped back up and shot back, watching as one of the men went down. Ed's hands shook with adrenaline. This was..._exhilarating_.

He aimed at another person and shot. And another. He ducked again as another bullet sped towards him. Something yanked him back by his ponytail, and he fell off of the ledge and into the mud. He glared up at the person. Colonel Mustang.

"What do you want, Colonel Bastard?" Ed's voice shook, despite his effort to keep it even. Mustang looked speechless for a moment, but he sighed.

"Tell me what I need to do, Ed," Mustang raised his voice above the sounds of gunfire.

"Get rid of the water, somehow! Or raise the temperature!" Ed shouted, climbing back up on the ledge. Ed felt the air around him become slightly warmer. He looked down at the top of Mustang's head. He had used his gloves to raise the water's temperature and then turned it into steam. The water was gone and the air was a bit warmer than before.

Ed grinned at his superior and turned his attention to the task at hand. He shot blindly at the other side, taking down men as he went. The man next to him stepped down and another man appeared at his side. Mustang.

He snapped his gloved fingers once, blowing up the entire left portion of the Aerugian trench. Everybody turned to look at the Colonel, who gave them a disgustingly smug smirk. His smirk disappeared and was replaced by a look of horror. He jumped on Ed, sending them both to the muddy ground. Mud splattered all over the both of them, but Ed wasn't complaining. He was too busy looking at the explosion going on overhead.

A grenade. It had set off in the air, luckily, but if the Colonel hadn't pushed him to the ground, he would have been left with some nasty burn marks. The two men scrambled to their feet as a good half of the men retreated to the reserve trench.

Night fell and the men laid down in the mud. About twelve men stayed up to guard the trench while everyone else slept. It was cold outside. Ed had on an undershirt, a button-up shirt, a uniform, and a winter uniform jacket, and he still shivered.

He walked to the reserve trench and sunk down to his knees, pulling himself against a dirt wall. He grimaced as he watched a rat stalk off into the communication trench, no doubt scavenging for discarded food.

He heard the screeching of a truck in the distance; several men got up and walked away - toward the sound of the truck. Ed listened as their footsteps and voices faded. He felt something warm next to him and hoped that it wasn't any sort of vermin.

He glanced sideways to see that it was Roy. _**'That's slightly better than rats and bugs,'**_ Ed thought, grinning. Mustang paid no attention to his subordinate's grin and settled down next to him. Their shoulders touched as well as their hips and feet.

"Thanks, Colonel. I mean, for pushing me down, earlier," Ed broke the silence.

"No need to thank me, Ed," Roy gave him a tired smile. Yes, a _smile_.

"It's worse than I thought out here," Ed whispered. Oh, how he wished he had a blanket. He leaned closer to Mustang.

"Hopefully we've helped some," Roy whispered back into Ed's ear. Mustang's hot breath tickled his ear, sending a shiver down his spine that had nothing to do with the cold.

Sergeants Myers, Reynard, and Davis walked up to Ed and Roy and sat down.

"Thanks for all your help today, guys," Myers whispered quietly, grinning. Reynard and Davis nodded. Ed couldn't help but notice that Davis was staring at him. He sent the young man a questioning glance, but Davis acted as if he hadn't seen.

Instead, the young man shifted so that he was sitting next to Ed. Roy was on the other side of the blonde alchemist, leaning on him, slightly. Reynard laid down where he was, and Myers rested his head on Reynard's stomach. The all sat in silence, gazing up at the starry sky.

"It's amazing how people call us war heroes, but...I don't feel like a hero in the least," Myers spoke softly. Nobody spoke, but Roy nodded his head in agreement. He looked at Ed and saw that the blonde had already fallen asleep. Roy shifted so that Ed's head was resting on his shoulder. Davis was next to Ed, laying on the ground.

Roy let his hand snake its way around Ed's shoulders and pull him closer. Ed mumbled and buried his head into Roy's shoulder and chest. Finally, Ed just sunk down and laid his head on Roy's lap. The Colonel smirked and played with Ed's ponytail. The helmet was a little uncomfortable on his crotch, but he eventually got used to it and dozed off, still sitting up against the dirt wall.


	9. Chapter 9

It seemed to Ed like he had just fallen asleep, when suddenly he was jostled awake by his Colonel. He nearly jumped out of his skin when a gunshot rang out into the silence somewhere in the distance. His eyes snapped open to see Roy's face hovering inches above his own.

"What the hell are you - " Ed was interrupted by someone saying "Shh!" nearby.

Ed then realized that his head was in the Colonel's lap. Despite the cold night air, he felt his cheeks heat up considerably.

"Be quiet, Full Metal. Keep your head where it is. I'm ducking down as well, so I'm sorry about our...close proximity, but we have bigger issues right now," Roy whispered.

"Like what?" Ed whispered back, searching Roy's onyx eyes for an answer.

"The Aerugians. They're patrolling No Man's Land **(A/N: The area between the two trenches)**. Our guards should be okay, but I'm worried about that gunshot I heard a minute ago," Roy whispered, letting one of his gloved hands rest on Ed's helmeted head.

"Why are we whispering?" Ed asked, moving his head into a more comfortable position on Roy's lap; Roy really wished Ed would stop moving around so much.

"Because if we talk so they can hear us, they'll think we're planning to attack. Try not to move so much. Too much movement and a sniper will be able to get you," Roy tried to reason with the younger alchemist.

"This is stupid. We should get up and fight some more," Ed said, moving to get up.

Roy's nose collided with Ed's nose, but Roy refused to budge. He shoved Ed's head back down onto his lap, causing the blonde to curse somewhat loudly.

"Will you two shut up?" Reynard whispered from somewhere nearby. Ed rolled his eyes. He was laying on his back with his head in Roy's lap, so he couldn't see anything except for the Colonel's face and what his peripheral vision would allow him to see, which wasn't much.

Just then, Ed felt something warm on his right leg. He lifted his head slightly and looked down the length of his body to see Davis practically cuddling up to his leg. The man looked up to meet Ed's questioning gaze and gave him a grin. His hand came to rest on Ed's knee, and it was slowly sliding up his leg.

"What are you doing?" Ed whispered, harshly. _**'I don't even know this guy! Guy being the key word here!'**_ Ed's brain was sending him signals to shout and raise hell, but he knew he couldn't, because if he did, the Aerugians would most likely shoot him. _**'Crap.'**_

Mustang wished he could see what was going on, but all he _could_ see was Ed's facial expressions, and, judging by the look on his face, he was getting either so angry that he was turning red...or he was embarrassed. Roy couldn't quite tell because of the lack of light.

Another gunshot sounded in the distance; Ed tensed for a minute before somewhat relaxing again. The blonde was nervous for two reasons. He was _not_ comfortable with Davis at _all_, so that was the first reason he was nervous. Reason number two being that he couldn't yell at him for fear of getting himself or Roy shot.

As a hand ghosted over his crotch, Ed jerked away from it, not caring whether or not he gave away his position. Davis had the decency to look ashamed, but he only moved his hand away a fraction of a bit. Ed's breathing grew quicker as more gunshots rang out, this time closer. He despised waiting. It gave him time to think about the possibilities of something going wrong. He was more of an act-on-impulse person, not a sit-and-wait-for-something-to-happen person.

A shriek of terror sounded from another part of the trench, and Ed decided that he had to know what was going on. He kicked Davis off of his leg with his Auto-Mail foot and pushed Mustang's face away from his own. He sat up and grabbed a nearby rifle and crawled away with it.

"Full Metal! Get back here! I said get your ass back here! Ed!" Mustang whispered, trying desperately to call out to his subordinate. Ed ignored him and crawled through the dried up mud toward the front trench. More gunshots could be heard as he scrambled closer to the action.

He saw eight men standing on the ledge, peeking over the edge of the trench. _Bang_. One soldier fell off of the ledge and into the mud near Ed. Blood was oozing from the bullet hole in his eye socket. He was dead for sure. Ed's very veins were pumped with adrenaline. He pushed himself off of the ground and stepped over the dead man's body.

He rushed over to the ledge and stepped onto it with care. The blonde could barely see over the edge of the trench, but he positioned his gun anyway and took aim at a man no more than ten feet away. _Bang_. He was dead. Ed aimed again. _Bang_. Another one down. Too easy. _Snap_. Another man caught on fire. _**'Wait...what?'**_ Ed thought to himself before he realized what was going on.

He looked a few feet to his left to see Colonel Mustang. His onyx eyes were fixed on the fiery display before him. The flames danced in his eyes as he watched with a wicked smirk on his face. _**'Okay.... That's a bit frightening.'**_ Ed decided, before turning his attention back to No Man's Land.

A few more men took their positions at the ledge, but many of the guns weren't working. Ed couldn't figure out why they weren't working, but he didn't have too much time to ponder on the thought.

"Ed. Fix their weapons while I take care of this," Roy gestured to a rapidly approaching group of Aerugian soldiers. Ed nodded as a reply and jumped down and into the mud. He grabbed a few rifles and mended them using alchemy. He stole a glance at his commanding officer. Roy was extremely tired; his fiery attacks were less controlled than usual.... _**'With him in this exhausted state, he's placing us at a lot of risk, using his flames like that. He could blow us up if he's not careful,'**_ Ed threw him a concerned look before he remembered what he was supposed to be doing.

A small line of men had formed in front of him, each of them wanting him to clean and repair their weapons. Ed sighed as he took another gun and repaired it. He saw an orange light from the corner of his eye and turned to look at what was going on.

Roy was setting more and more men on fire, but Ed saw the bullets flying around the older man and realized that the Colonel would be shot unless he moved.

"Colonel! Move! They're gonna shoot!" Ed shouted, dropping the rifle in his hand. He trudged over to the ledge and yanked Roy down from it, earning a smack on the back of the head.

"What do you want me to do, Full Metal?! They're approaching fast, and, unless we do something _now_, they're going to invade our trench!" Roy yelled, finally losing his temper.

Ed was already planning something. He turned around walked down the line of men, snatching rifles from a few soldiers, earning a few complaints and outraged yells. He walked over to the ledge and stepped up, setting the rifles over the edge, hoping the Aerugians wouldn't get close enough to take them. He made a few trips back to the line of men and made a pile of rifles. The men demanded to know what Ed was doing.

"Shut up! Take your pistols, climb onto the ledge, and shoot as many men as you can," Ed ordered. The men looked at each other, shrugged, and did as they were told.

"Ed, what are you doing?" Roy asked, watching as the blonde walked away from him and near another ledge, this one not facing the enemy. Ed gave him no answer, and he set the rifles on the ground above the ledge, hoping the Aerugians wouldn't run by and steal them. He hoisted himself up and clambered up beside the rifles.

He ignored Roy's yells and set to work. He transmuted some of the cold, rocky earth into a firm shield that protected him from the Aerugians, who were already firing bullets at him. He counted the rifles and decided that nearly fifty would have to do. He clapped his hands together and placed them on the guns, desperately trying to ignore the bullets that were embedding themselves in his somewhat small shield.

To his delight, the transmutation was shaping up, becoming much taller and much wider. Roy peered over the edge, trying to get a good look at what Ed was doing. His helmet straps were loose, and his helmet was threatening to fall off of his head, but he didn't care as long as he knew that Ed was okay. Indeed, the blonde was okay. In fact, he was grinning as an extremely large object grew and grew in front of him.

Soon, Ed found himself staring at a brand new, one-man operated tank. He gave his creation a once-over and grinned appreciatively.

"Holy shit," Roy gasped.

"I'ma take this baby for a ride!" Ed cackled, mounting the monstrous war machine.

"The fuck you are, Ed. Get out of that thing! It's dangerous," Roy shouted, his temper rising even more than before.

"News flash, Mustang. Even something as simple as walking down the street can be dangerous. I'm going whether you like it or not," Ed hopped into the tank and closed the lid over his head. It was kind of cramped inside, but it wasn't terribly uncomfortable.

Roy watched as the tracked wheels rolled forward and crushed through a bit of barbed wire. He found it hard to believe that Edward, _his_ subordinate, was the one operating the gigantic machine. _**'Where has his innocence gone?'**_ Roy wondered, ducking as a bullet whizzed by his barely protected head.

Being inside of the tank blocked off all of the cold air and created a sort of safe haven for Ed. He adjusted the main gun so that it pointed toward the now retreating Aerugian soldiers. They fled back to their trench, but that didn't stop Ed. No, he pressed on, crushing more barbed wire in the process of advancing on the enemy.

His heart pounded in his chest as he prepared for the blast that would be coming from the main gun. He surveyed the monitor in front of him, allowing him to see the world outside. He pulled a nearby lever. A nearly deafening _BOOM _resounded. Ed stared at the screen as he watched the ground near the Aerugian trench literally _explode_.

Ed could hardly hear the panicked shrieks and screams of the terror he was causing, just as he couldn't hear the whoops of joy his fellow Amestrisian soldiers were giving him. All he heard was _death_. People begging...screaming for help. It didn't matter that they spoke a different language; Ed already knew what they must be saying. They were, in all probability, screaming for help...begging for it...fearing for their lives.

Ed's hand twitched on the lever as he wallowed in his thoughts. He was _killing_ people. People who had families, just like he had Al, Winry, and Pinako. These were real people, and he was brutally _murdering_ them.

His thoughts were interrupted as bullets ricocheted off of the armored tank. A grenade was thrown near him, but it hardly affected the nearly impenetrable machine. He shook his head to clear the thoughts from it and moved forward, blowing up whatever he pleased.

Roy watched from afar as Ed continued to blow things up that were in his way. He cursed as Ed drove too far and the earth gave way, sending him down - down into the enemy's trench. The Colonel kicked a rifle away from a seemingly dead soldier and grabbed it, wiping the mud off of the trigger.

He climbed up onto the edge of the trench and pulled himself up. Luckily, (or not so luckily...depending on which way you looked at it) the enemy's attention was focused on the tank that was now in their trench, so Roy was free to do as he pleased for the time being. He crossed the distance of No Man's Land as quickly as he could and approached the edge of the Aerugians' trench. He dropped to the ground and scooted closer to the edge, only to see that they were trying to pry open the driver's hatch of the tank.

Although he was tired, Roy had some control over his attacks, so he grimaced as he snapped his fingers, hoping that he didn't blow up the tank in the process. Of course, luck wasn't on his side, and he ended up sending the tank into nearly a million pieces, but he _did_ catch quite a few men on fire.

Ed jumped out of the tank's fiery clutches and transmuted his Auto-Mail fist into a blade. Roy jumped down into the fiery pit and looked at Ed, who nodded. They immediately sought out the men who weren't on fire and went on a killing spree.

_Snap_. Roy's fingers clicked, setting two men ablaze. They screamed and clawed at their faces until their skin was black. Soon, nothing remained but a dying fire and a fair few singed bones. Blood was _everywhere_. Unlike Roy, they couldn't dry up the rain water, so the two alchemists found themselves almost knee-deep in freezing water.

The moonlight illuminated all of the soldiers for Roy and Ed to see. The shorter of the two watched as a man approached him with a large blade. The big man muttered some things Ed didn't understand and lunged toward the blonde. Ed's instincts kicked in, and he dodged easily. He practically danced circles around the man and, when the man nearly stabbed him, sliced his throat. Blood sprayed Ed's face as the man's head and neck fell off of his shoulders and into a watery grave.

_Snap_. More men were set on fire without a second thought, yet a number of men advanced on them. _**'Why aren't our soldiers coming to help?'**_ Roy asked himself. _**'Oh yeah. Ed used their guns to make the tank. Well, there goes our back-up.'**_

Ed thrust his blade into a man's ribcage, completely impaling him. Ed didn't stop there though. He stabbed him multiple times in the gut, making sure the bastard was dead.

"That's what you get for trying to sneak up on me," Ed said, his voice cracking. He didn't care if the guy couldn't understand what he was saying. All that mattered to him was that he had said it.

Roy was getting more exhausted as each minute passed. He hadn't eaten nearly all day, nor had he gotten enough sleep. The cold air wasn't doing wonders for him either. In fact, he was feeling rather clammy.... And just like that, he passed out, but not before he realized that he would be leaving Ed all alone.... _**'Please protect him...somebody.'**_

**(A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update, guys! I'm loaded down with work in school at the moment, so it'll be like this for a while - taking nearly a week to update each chapter. Sorry in advance. Thanks for waiting patiently! Reviews are welcomed and encouraged.)**


	10. Chapter 10

"Colonel!" Ed screamed, rushing over to his side. The freezing water sloshed around at his knees as he trudged over to his commanding officer. More men were approaching fast, as he kneeled down beside one unconcious Roy Mustang.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ed saw a group of soldiers drawing closer. Ed jumped up and turned around, transmuting his steel fist into a long blade. A bullet whizzed by his ear, and Ed didn't have to think twice.

He lunged forward, stabbing the biggest man in the shoulder. Although Ed couldn't understand the Aerugian language, he thought he had a general idea of what the man was saying at that moment.

Another soldier drew his pistol and fired, missing Ed by nearly a foot. Ed wondered how someone's aim could be _that bad_, but then it dawned on him that maybe they weren't aiming at him.... He spun around quickly, looking for Mustang.

The moonlight shone down on the muddy water, making it shimmer beautifully. And there he sat, in a small pool of the water, with his green uniform all rumpled, muddy...and blood-stained. Ed's heart threatened to jump out of his chest, while his stomach felt like it had dropped out of his body. His throat closed up tightly as he stared at his seemingly lifeless commanding officer.

A stream of crimson was gushing out of a bullet wound in Mustang's left shoulder. His face was pale in the moonlight, giving him a chilling, ghostly appearance. His head was lolling on his shoulder, his helmet barely on his head anymore.

_**'He's dead,' **_Ed thought, numbly. He turned around to face a rather large group of soldiers. His insides were boiling with rage as he eyed the men. All of his emotions were coming out at once. Hate, rage, despair, nostalgia, and something else that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"_YOU BASTARDS_!" Ed yelled, clapping his hands and letting them hover above the almost knee-deep water. In a split second, before anyone could even pull a trigger, Ed had manipulated the water to rise to a gigantic wave. He let the wave crash down among the other men, wiping most of them off of their feet and swiping their weapons.

When the wave had died down, the remaining men just stood and looked at each other, literally shaking in their boots. They scampered all over the place, searching for their weapons.

For the first time in his life, Ed felt murderous. Hate consumed his mind and body, taking over his needs for sleep, food, and warmth. Roy Mustang, _his_ Colonel, _his _commanding officer...was sitting up against a dirt wall on the muddy ground, _dying_ or already _dead_. And Ed wanted to make them pay dearly.

He lunged toward the nearest man, slicing his throat, spraying himself with crimson blood. The man gave a strangled yell and fell limply to the ground, his wound still oozing.

One man managed to find his pistol, so he aimed it at Ed, but before he could pull the trigger, Ed was there, holding him in a headlock with his Auto-Mail arm.

"One of you shot him, and now you're going to pay with blood," he said in a voice barely above a whisper, but it seemed to hold all the hatred in the world. It was dangerous. He knew that the Aerugians probably couldn't understand him, but he couldn't have cared less. He wanted revenge.

He broke the man's neck, causing him to die almost instantly. It was probably for the better, or he would surely have choked on the blood that was pouring out of his open mouth. Most of the veins in his eyes had ruptured, and his face had turned a nasty purplish-blue color.

Ed's heart was pounding in his ears as he looked around at the other men. He could no longer hear anything except for the beating of his own heart. It barely registered with him that men all around him were shouting. He clapped and transmuted his Auto-Mail into something like a small cannon. He quickly bent down and picked up a few rocks, transmuting them into small cannon balls.

He loaded his "cannon" and took aim. The men were scared shitless. _BANG_. At least three men dropped dead. _BANG_. A few more men were stupid enough to get in the way. Ed watched as his cannon ball hit one man right on the side of the face. Half of his face was ripped off and taken with the ball. The man cried out in pain as his eyeball fell out of its socket, oozing what Ed could only assume was more blood. It wasn't too long before the man's poor soul couldn't take it anymore, and he too fell to the ground and lay motionless.

Soon, Ed lost track of how many people he was killing. He was bloodthirsty. He enjoyed the way hate pounded through his veins as he punched a man over and over again. Finally, he withdrew after hearing a sickening _crack_, telling him that he had broken something - probably the soldier's nose.

He looked around for any survivors. As far as he could tell, there wasn't anyone left, but that didn't mean that a commanding officer wouldn't be back to check on the trenches. Ed kicked the dead bodies out of his way and walked back over to Colonel Mustang, who still lay motionless. His heartbeat went haywire as he drew nearer, falling to the ground beside him. He crawled closer to the man to inspect him.

With his flesh hand, Ed used his first two fingers to find the pulse on Mustang's neck. Words couldn't describe how relieved he was when he felt a pulse there. A weak one, but a pulse, nonetheless. Without hesitating, he tore a large chunk out of his own jacket and transmuted it to something like a humongous gauze pad with some tape.

Gingerly, he put his Auto-Mail hand behind the Colonel, touching his back, and pulled him toward himself. The man shifted easily over, so Ed could have a look at his back. It looked as if the bullet had gone right through, and, sure enough, Ed found it lodged in the dirt wall behind Mustang.

He sighed as he placed the gauze over the older man's shoulder where the wound was. He taped it up to the best of his ability with one shaking, flesh hand and one Auto-Mail hand. He inspected his handiwork. With another sigh, he decided that it would have to do.

He wrapped his Auto-Mail arm behind Mustang and lifted him up as he stood. Immediately, the man's knees buckled. Ed swore under his breath and took a different approach. He put the Colonel on his back and trudged through the mud. _Squish_. _Squish_. _Squish_. He stepped over a few dead bodies, grimacing at the disgusting state they were in. A tiny bit of remorse started to seep into his conscience.

He shook his head and trudged on, even though his commanding officer was dragging him down. He sunk further into the mud, but he kept going, determined to make it out of the trench. Once he arrived to a ledge much like the one in his own trench, he lifted Mustang as high as he could and gently laid him down over the edge. He then clambered up beside him and looked down at the man.

Roy Mustang was of a pale complexion, but Ed knew that he wasn't usually _this_ pale. So much blood loss and being cold and wet wasn't a generally a good combination. Ignoring his shivering body's protests, he took off his winter jacket. He clapped and instantly dried Roy's uniform as well as his own. He made sure to dry the boots and his feet as well as Roy's.

He hated the fact that Roy was so _limp_ and _lifeless_ as he slipped his own jacket onto the older man's form. He wished they were both back in Central, having a heated argument in the Colonel's office. Anything would have been better than seeing him like this. He looked so frail and weak - nothing like the strong man with a passion for fire - nothing like the cocky bastard he was used to.

"Don't you go and die on me, you bastard," Ed whispered, gracelessly picking up the older alchemist and flopping him onto his back. He trooped back over to his own trench, crossing No Man's Land. He knew his comrades wouldn't mistake him for the enemy - and even if they did, they couldn't shoot with their rifles, because Ed had turned them into a tank. _**'Hehe. Oops,'**_ Ed thought, swearing slightly. He hoped that the Major General would be forgiving.... Unlikely. He could almost hear the lectures to come....

He made it back to the trench without incident, and lowered the Colonel into his comrades' waiting hands. Quite a few of the men were cheering, and others had gone back to the communication trench to hail a car for Roy at the road, so he could go back to the rest camp immediately.

Ed jumped down into the trench and into the mud. Silently, he followed the few men supporting Roy in their arms, and walked into the back trench. Most of the dead bodies had been pushed aside, to Ed's stomach's relief. Even after causing basically a massacre back there, he still didn't like the stench of a rotting body.

To his surprise, it was Gizmo Gadsby and Harvey Sumner who met him at the beginning of the road. They grinned at him and clapped him on the back a few times. The other soldiers were going on and on about how they had seen a lot of blue light coming out of the enemy's trench, and how Ed had kicked some serious ass, and so on and so forth. But it was just like Sergeant Reynard had said merely hours before: "_It's amazing how people call us war heroes, but...I don't feel like a hero in the least._"

Ed watched as Colonel Mustang was loaded into the backseat of a military vehicle. As Gizmo walked back to the car, Ed put a numb hand on his shoulder.

"I'm going with him," he said, firmly. Gizmo nodded with understanding.

"Alright. That's fine," he replied, smiling.

Harvey climbed into the passenger seat while Gizmo took the driver's seat, which left Ed to take the backseat with Roy. So he did. He shut the door once he was inside and realized that there was hardly enough room. He figured he could do for Roy what Roy had done for him the night before. He shifted and gently pulled Roy's head nto his lap. Little did he know, Gizmo had seen the entire scene in the rearview mirror; the redhead smiled to himself as he drove down the dark, dirt road.

The ride was bumpy to say the least. The corner's of Ed's mouth turned upwards when he saw Roy give a little groan as they bounced over a small pothole. _**'At least the bastard's still alive,'**_ he thought, as his smirk grew into a tiny smile.

"Mmm, Ed?" Said a raspy voice. Ed looked down at the head in his lap to see that the Colonel's eyes were open, but just barely.

"Yeah," he replied, softly. To his surprise, the older man grasped Ed's left, flesh hand with his right hand and brought it to lay on his stomach. Ed gazed down at the tangle of dirty, gloved fingers and smiled.

"It hurts," Roy's voice croaked. "Can hardly move my left arm."

"Yeah, it'll be like that for a while. At least until it heals. Eh, don't worry about it; you'll be fine in no time, old man," Gizmo butted in, completely ruining the sincere moment between the two.

Ed almost chuckled at the "old man" comment, while Roy just shot him a glare - not that Gizmo could see it while he was driving.

"We'll be at the rest camp soon," Sergeant Sumner assured the pair.

Ed nodded for both of them and continued to stare at their intertwined fingers. He wondered why the Colonel had grabbed him like that, but he shrugged it off as some kind of support. He must be in a great deal of pain - not to mention very delusional - to seek support from _Edward Elric_ - his most stubborn, youngest, hot-tempered subordinate. _**'Yes,'**_ he decided, **'the Colonel must be very desperate, indeed.'**

Another bump in the road they went over. Another groan from the man whose head was in Ed's lap. Another reassuring statement from Harvey. Another disturbing story about Gizmo's sex life to fill the time. Another groan from the Colonel. Another laugh from Edward, and they were finally at the rest camp.

**(A/N: Ahhh. It's super-duper short. I'm sorry, but I'm in the process of moving. Hopefully, I'll have an internet connection where I'm going - I have wireless internet that I steal from people. lol. I'll update a.s.a.p..)**


	11. Chapter 11

"We've got a wounded soldier!" Sergeant Sumner shouted, pushing through the men standing around the rest camp. He grabbed an already blood-stained stretcher and, with Gizmo's help, laid Mustang on it. Ed watched as the two men carried him into a medical tent.

Less than a minute later, Harvey crawled out of the tent. He walked up to Ed and gave him a weak smile.

"Will he be - "

"All we can do is wait and pray," Harvey interrupted, putting a hand on Ed's shoulder as he passed by. Ed took one last glance at the medic tent, where more doctors were gathering around, and walked back to the lonely, green tent.

He crawled into the tent and sat down on the makeshift mattress. He watched as his breath came out in puffs and, for the first time in a long time, he prayed.

"If, by chance, there is a god up there, please keep Colonel - no, please keep _Roy_ safe and healthy. Just watch over the bastard for me," Ed hastily muttered an "amen", feeling foolish. He decided that, if his prayer was heard and Mustang survived, he would _consider_ going to church every now and then. He laid down on the sorry excuse for a mattress and stared up at the peak of the tent, which was rippling with the cold winter wind. Ed thought about the last time he had attended church.

_He was a young boy, no older than ten, and Al was nine. It was Christmas Eve, and the both boys wished that they were at home in their warm, comfortable beds, but Trisha Elric had other plans. She had dressed them up in their only formal clothes and walked with them in the freezing cold to the chapel down the dirt road._

_Al held onto his mother's hand, while Ed trudged along, feeling slightly scared. It was much too dark outside for his liking, but still, he felt like he had to protect his mother and younger brother from the monsters he believed inhabited the woods on the sides of the dirt road. So, he bravely took his position in front of them and led them to the church (even though Trisha already knew where she was going)._

_Inside the place of worship, it was warm and welcoming; Ed was relieved. The place was nearly empty, except for a few people scattered here and there. The trio sat on a pew near the front and grabbed a Bible and Hymn Book to share. Ed grew restless as he listened to the priest drone on and on about something or other. His mother cleared her throat, signaling that she wanted him to sit up straighter. He complied, albeit grudgingly._

_All Ed really remembered about that night was that his mother started crying during the middle of the sermon. Ed and Al tried to comfort their mother, but to no avail. From that day on, Ed never set foot in a church, save for the Temple of Leto in Lior. In his eyes, God hadn't tried to help his mother. He had let her die, and Ed didn't think he would ever forgive him. That was a long time ago. Since that day, Ed had long since stopped believing in this so-called "God"._

Ed made a mental note, before drifting off to sleep, that he would visit that very same church with Al on Christmas Eve.

--------------------

Roy woke up with a splitting headache. His shoulder felt like it had been ripped to pieces; he nearly cried out in pain when he moved it. He could barely make out the blurry shapes of what he assumed to be doctors hovering above him. He was very aware of the cold, hard ground underneath him. The only thing between him and the ground was a thin stretcher; he could tell by the way it felt.

"What's going on?" Roy asked, barely opening his eyes to look at a doctor above him.

Cold hands touched the skin around his bullet wound. He hissed in pain as a finger grazed over the open wound.

"You're in a medical tent. You were shot in the shoulder," the white-haired man explained, calmly. Roy nodded, weakly. Then, a thought raced across his mind.

"Ed! Where's Ed?!" Roy shouted, as he tried to jump up, but the doctor's hands held him down.

"You mean that young man with the braid?" A curly-haired nurse jumped into the conversation.

"Yes! Where is he?!" Roy began to panic.

"He was walking towards his tent last time I saw him," she smiled as she grabbed a cottonball and a bottle of liquid. She poured a generous amount onto the cottonball. With one hand, she unbuttoned Roy's green uniform jacket, his actual uniform top, and the white (now blood-stained) button-down shirt underneath it.

"This will sting a little," she warned before dabbing around the wound with the cottonball. She wiped away the blood around the wound and then focused on the actual hole that the bullet had went through. Roy grimaced at the stinging sensation.

"You're pretty lucky. You won't have to undergo surgery, after all. Looks like the bullet went right through you. Your shoulder will be sore for a week or two, but it should heal up nicely in no time if you keep the bandages on it." Here she wrapped said bandages all around his shoulder and armpit. Roy sat up as a feeble attempt to help. When she was done, the nurse buttoned up his undershirt, uniform top, and uniform jacket.

"There. You should rest up. I'm sorry, Colonel, but you'll have to go back to your own tent. We need to treat other soldiers as well," the nurse gave him an apologetic look.

Roy merely nodded and gingerly crawled out of the tent. He shivered as a chilly gust of wind slapped him across his face. The cold certainly wasn't doing anything for his already aching shoulder. He looked at the single green tent in the distance and began walking towards it, thinking to himself.

After what seemed like an eternity, he reached the little tent and dropped to his knees onto the muddy ground. He pushed the flap of the tent aside and scrambled into the tiny shelter.

He looked around and spotted a small figure laying on a misshapen mattress. He smiled a little as he stared at Ed's back. From the looks of it, he was soundly sleeping. Roy walked on his knees and carefully sat down on it, so he didn't disturb his sleeping comrade. He laid down on his back and winced as his left shoulder touched the mattress. Instead, he shifted so that he was laying on his right side, facing Ed's back. He let his mind wander off as he stared at the sleeping figure.

_**'How did Ed manage to get out of there alive? I'm sorry I passed out and left you to fend for yourself. You must have been so frightened and alone. I'm so, so sorry, Edward. I'm so glad that you're alright. I don't think I could have ever forgiven myself if something had happened to you....'**_

Slowly, he raised his left arm, cringing as pain shot through his wounded shoulder. He looked at it for a moment before bringing it down to rest in between Edward and himself. He smiled as he caught a glimpse of the end of Ed's blonde ponytail poking out of the blanket. He caught the hair in between his fingers and gently tugged it free of the warm confines of the blanket.

Without thinking, he pulled the hairtie out of Ed's hair and wrapped it around his own wrist. He quickly learned to ignore the dull throbbing in his shoulder as he tangled his fingers into the golden locks. He had the urge to wrap his arm around the younger man and pull him closer, but he resisted the strange urge and settled for scooting closer.

Although his mind didn't seem to notice how exhausted he was, his body did and, eventually, he drifted off into a deep sleep.

----------------------

Ed woke up to the sound of someone snoring. He immediately thought of Roy, but his mind quickly squashed that thought, telling him that Roy was in the medic's tent still. He was irritated to find out that his hairtie was no longer in his hair.

_**'Must have fallen out while I was sleeping. And who the hell is snoring?'**_ Ed wondered. Annoyed at this mystery person for waking him up with their incessant snoring, he quickly rolled over to get a look at who it was. Not realizing that this person was so close to his back, he managed roll right into the chest of none other than Roy Mustang.

Ed gasped when he recognized the man. _It was really him! He made it back from the medical tent!_ If he wasn't so tired, Ed would have jumped for joy. But since no sudden spurt of energy overcame him, he settled for smiling contently. He decided that as soon as he got back home, Al and he would pay a visit to that church in Resembool.

He looked up at Roy's face to see that the man was looking back at him. He blushed and pushed his hands against the Colonel's upper body, trying to push himself away from the older man. He was startled when Roy let out a cry of pain, and that was when Ed caught a glimpse of his heavily bandaged shoulder.

"Shit! I'm sorry, Colonel! I didn't mean to - "

"It's fine, Ed. And may I ask a favor of you, please?" Roy asked, looking at the space in between them, where an imprint of Ed's body was.

"Maybe. It depends. What is it?" Ed narrowed his eyes, suspiciously.

"Can you call me by my first name? I mean...we're sharing a _bed_, Edward," Roy smirked. "When two people are in bed together, I don't think titles are needed."

Ed blushed at the last statement.

"Er...alright. Yeah. Erm.... How's your shoulder?" Ed reached out with his Auto-Mail hand to touch the bandages, but he quickly realized what he was about to do and retracted his hand.

Roy saw what the younger alchemist had almost done and grabbed the metal hand with his own hand. He brought the metal hand to rest on his shoulder, as gently as he could. Ed licked his lips as he watched this happen. Of course, he couldn't exactly feel the bandages, but that didn't matter. Had Roy just done what he thought he had done? No one, except for Al, Pinako, and Winry, had ever just so casually grabbed his metal hand and trusted that he wouldn't hurt them with it. He didn't think that the Colonel knew the importance of what he had just done.

At least...it was important to Ed.

Roy caught himself at least twice staring at Ed's lips as the younger alchemist "felt" around his wound. Even though it really wasn't, Roy couldn't help but describe the moment as "intimate". In less than one second, he could be kissing those lips. Edward's lips. The thought alone was nearly enough to make Roy hard. Nearly.

_**'Wow, I'm pathetic. Pining after my seventeen-year-old male subordinate like some kind of love-sick schoolgirl.'**_

Roy caught Ed's Auto-Mail hand in his left hand once again and brought the two hands down to rest on the space between them. Ed just stared at Roy, and Roy stared back. Roy stroked Ed's metal hand with his thumb, though he knew that the blonde couldn't feel it.

"How - " "How - " They both started at the same time. They smiled and laughed.

"You go first. I insist," Roy said, as Ed draped the blanket over them.

"Well, I was gonna ask about how your shoulder's feeling, since you didn't answer me the first time," Ed stated, letting his eyes wander to the bandaged area.

"It's pretty sore, but nothing I can't handle," Roy assured him, smirking as Ed rolled his eyes.

"Always gotta be so overly-confident," Ed muttered.

"I could say the same about you," Roy replied, calmly. He loved teasing his subordinate.

"Now, what were you saying earlier?" Ed asked, curiously, looking down at their hands.

"I.... I was going to ask how you.... How did you make it out of there...alive?" Roy finished, looking into Ed's amber eyes. Ed sighed.

"Well, there was a lot of men still in the trenches when you passed out.... And they started to gang up on me...but...." Tears started to gather in his eyes.

"It was my fault. One of the men took out his gun and shot you in the shoulder. It's my fault you're in so much pain right now. What if you had lost your arm?! I could never have forgiven myself...." Tears spilled over the brink of Ed's eyes and streamed freely down his face.

"What? You can't possibly blame yourself for what happened, Ed! You obviously did something right if you're laying here right now!" Roy was startled when he noticed that the smaller figure in front of him was sobbing. The sight nearly made his heart break. That was something he never had expected to see in a million years.

"I killed them. All of them. At least, all of the men who were in the trenches. No doubt they've sent for reinforcements now. Our men should be expecting an attack on our trenches. And it's all my fault," Ed sobbed again.

Roy scooted closer and removed his hand from Ed's Auto-Mail one. Instead, he wrapped an arm around the younger man's body, pulling him closer. He twirled strands of hair around his fingers and stroked the fine hair. Ever so slowly, Ed's sobs grew softer and softer until they subsided completely. He looked up at Roy.

The blonde's eyes were puffy and red, while his face was tear-stained. Even then, Roy still thought he was beautiful. Maybe even a fallen angel.

Roy scooted closer and planted a soft kiss on the top of Ed's head. His lips lingered in the mess of hair for a second longer before he pulled away. He and Ed both froze on the spot when it registered with them what had happened.

_**'Did he just kiss my head?'**_ Ed thought. He risked a glance at Roy's horrified face, and decided that, yes, he had indeed kissed his head.

_**'I'm such an idiot,'**_ became Roy's mantra as he searched for something to say.

Finally, after nearly two minutes of silence, Roy decided to speak up.

"I - I'm sorry, Ed. I don't know what came over me," Roy closed his eyelids, wishing the world to disappear at that point.

"It's.... It's okay, Roy," Ed barely raised his voice above a whisper. Roy's eyelids flew back open to give his subordinate a crazy look.

Ed raised his gloved Auto-Mail hand around the back of Roy's neck and stroked his jet black hair. Ed scooted closer so that he was curled up into Roy's chest. The older man wrapped his left arm around the blonde's waist, leaving absolutely no room in between them. He planted feather-soft kisses all over the top of Ed's head as they listened to each other breathe.


	12. Chapter 12

"Major Elric," A voice made itself heard outside of the green tent where Roy and Ed lay, embracing each other.

"Damn it," Ed grumbled under his breath. Roy removed his rather possessive arm from around Ed's waist, reluctantly. Ed stepped over Roy and crawled out of the tent to see the Major General. Ed stood up at once and saluted his superior, earning an approving nod.

"At ease," he gruffed; Ed let his hand drop to his side.

"It's nearing oh-six-hundred hours, Major. We'll be getting the material for the mattresses within the next two hours. Be in the middle of the camp at oh-eight-hundred hours," the man said, setting his mouth into a thin line.

"Yes, sir," Ed replied automatically.

"After you finish making the mattresses, I'd like you to keep an eye on Colonel Mustang to make sure his condition doesn't worsen. He's a valuable soldier. Wouldn't want to lose him," the old man explained, emotionlessly.

"Yes, sir," Ed mentally sighed as he watched the Major General walk away. He dropped his tense posture and crawled back into the tent.

"Sounds like a fun-filled day you've got ahead of you," Roy joked.

Ed mumbled something incoherent and stepped over the Colonel and laid down next to him. He yawned and curled up next to the older man; it was nice to have something warm to cuddle up to, even if it was his commanding officer.

"You can go to sleep, Edward. I'll wake you up in time," Roy whispered, savoring the way Ed snuggled up to his chest. The warmth was a welcome change from the constantly biting cold.

"Nah, I'm not that - " yawn, "tired," Ed said. Roy sent him a smirk, while Ed glared back.

"Go to sleep, Full Metal. That's an order," the Colonel said in his most intimidating voice.

Ed grumbled under his breath, closing his eyelids as he did so.

_**'Bastard,'**_ was Ed's last thought before drifting off to sleep.

---------------

Nearly two hours later, Ed was roused awake by Roy.

"Hnnn. I don't wanna," Ed said, vaguely.

"Well, you have to. Get up," Roy demanded.

Ed opened his eyes and threw him a glare. The Colonel nearly laughed because of the way Ed's hair was sticking up in the oddest of places. It was a sight to see. The blonde shivered as he kicked back the blanket and crawled toward the flap of the tent.

"I'll be back to check on you in a few hours, hopefully," Ed said, giving him a sloppy salute.

"See to it that you do," Roy replied, snuggling up to the blanket that he now had all to himself.

Ed rolled his eyes and crawled out of the tent. As he stood up and walked toward the middle of camp, he started thinking. Was it normal for two men to do what he and Roy had done? Snuggling and such? He decided that the snuggling could be counted as keeping warm, but the kisses Roy had planted on his head? Not exactly what Ed would call _necessary_.

He looked up at the brightening sky. He could just barely see the sun peeking up over the edge of the horizon - its rays turning the sky an orange and pink color. It was beautiful.

He sighed upon seeing quite a few trucks, undoubtedly filled with mattress-stuffing materials. This was going to take a _long_ time.

---------------

Roy tossed and he turned, but he couldn't find a comfortable position. He thought about how warm Ed had been. He couldn't wait until the shorter alchemist returned, so he could warm up completely.

He laid there, thinking deeply. Ed. His blonde, short, hot-tempered subordinate who was roughly thirteen years younger than him. And a male, no less!

_**'Wow, Roy,'**_ he thought to himself, _**'you sure know how to pick 'em.'**_

He thought back to one of the first mornings they had spent in this very tent. That morning when he and Ed had had that "wrestling match". He felt himself growing hard just thinking about Edward sprawled out underneath him, squirming and writhing.

Breathtaking. That was probably the best word to describe the experience with. Maybe he hadn't been with a woman in so long (a few weeks), or maybe Ed was really just that sexy, but he already had a full erection from just _thinking_ about that morning!

Roy grunted as he willed his erection to wilt, but his luck wasn't the best. At all. He ignored it as best as he could and tried to keep his mind blank. It was nearly an hour later before he finally drifted off to sleep, dreaming of a certain blonde, _male_ subordinate of his.

---------------

Ed kicked a pile of cotton nearby and looked down at his work. Mattresses were being hauled off to every tent in the camp. Soldiers were buzzing with excitement. Ed figured he had made nearly three-hundred mattresses in the past two and a half hours. He was tired and still had quite a few to go. Probably around four-hundred more.

He pulled out his pocketwatch. 10:32 in the morning. He put it back into his pocket and looked around. Most of the men were eating breakfast by now. Ed had already eaten. He figured that he should probably take some to the Colonel though, since the man hadn't eaten since the day before.

He trudged up to the breakfast line and waited for a good ten minutes before he got to the front. The cook handed him a plate of two stale biscuits along with some jam and a few sausages. It looked absolutely repugnant. It smelled fine though, so Ed walked quickly over to the lonely green tent in the distance. He detested the long walk so much.

He approached the tent, wondering if the Colonel was asleep. He listened carefully, but heard nothing but the howling of the wind around him. He crouched down and pulled open the flap of the tent.

The first thing Ed heard was panting. He immediately thought that Roy was having some sort of heart attack and dropped the plate of food on the ground. The panting stopped and he drew closer to Roy's figure. Then it dawned on him what Roy had been doing underneath the blanket.

"I...uh, I'll just come back la--"

"No, Ed. I - _ah_ - I was just - " the older alchemist moaned slightly, "I was just thinking of you."

Ed's eyes grew wide as saucers (well, he could have sworn they had, at least) as he watched the scene before his very eyes. He could not believe this was happening. What the hell?

"Colonel, I - "

"_Roy_. Call me Roy. Mmm, please, Ed," Roy pulled the blanket off as he continued to pleasure himself, so Ed could get an eye-full. Mustang hoped he wasn't pushing his luck, but he couldn't help himself. He was horny and there certainly wasn't any _females_ around, so what could a guy do but hope for the best he could get?

Ed blushed furiously as he watched the older man masturbate in front of him. He was confused. Why was he still here? Why was his body responding? Who on _earth_ was this guy, and what had he done with the cool and refined Colonel Mustang? Had war really reduced the man to _this_? Begging his seventeen-year-old _male_ subordinate?

Well, Ed could only hope so.

He crawled forward, nervously, biting his lip as he watched from a slight distance. Roy's mouth formed a nearly perfect "o" shape as he picked up his pace. Ed's own member grew hard from only _watching_. He decided that it was too late to turn back, even if he wanted to. The damage was done to his brain. Might as well satisfy his and Roy's bodily needs.

Ed suddenly grasped Roy's hand in his own flesh hand and pulled it away from the erection. Roy threw his head back, leaning back on his good arm, waiting for Ed to continue.

The younger alchemist drew his left hand nearer as he looked at Roy's erection. It stood, tall and proud for only him to see. He was nervous as he grasped it firmly in his flesh hand, earning a soft gasp from the Colonel. Slightly encouraged by this, Ed tried an experimental pump, watching with fascination as a bit of pre-come squirted out.

He wondered what it would taste like, but refrained from licking it; that would scare Roy away for sure (or so he thought). He quickly pumped up and down the shaft of Roy's cock, finding an easy rhythm.

He was going neither too fast, nor too slow. It was perfect. Ed let his eyes roam all over Roy's uniform-clad body. He knew it was too cold for them to even think about taking off their uniforms, but he couldn't help but wonder what kind of body Roy kept hidden underneath his uniform.

Roy Mustang didn't need to see Ed's body to keep his erection up. Just the thought that this was _Ed_ jerking him off was almost enough to make him come. Almost. He wanted a kiss. Just one, and he would be satisfied.

Slowly, Roy sat up, bringing his face closer to Ed's. The younger alchemist looked like he was concentrating very hard, and he was. Roy grabbed him by the chin and nearly smashed their faces together. Ed's rhythm faltered, but Roy could hardly bring himself to care.

Their lips were desperate. Seeking what? They did not know. Their tongues wrapped themselves around each other and fought for dominance. Nobody really won the battle, but that didn't matter.

Ed picked up a rhythm again and pumped Roy's erection a bit faster. The Colonel's fingers fumbled with Ed's zipper as he pulled it down, revealing boxers. Roy's cold fingers flew into the boxers and wrapped themselves around Ed's dick, causing the blonde to hiss.

"Cold," Ed warned him.

Roy didn't care, because the warmth of Ed's cock was amazing on his ice cold fingers. Ed swatted Roy's hand away and tucked his cock back inside of his pants and pulled up the zipper. He turned his attention back to Roy's dick and he smiled.

"Ed," Roy breathed into his ear.

Enough was enough, Ed decided, as he looked down at Roy's weeping member.

He sat on his legs and lowered his head so that it was inches away from the Colonel's penis. He could hear Roy's breath, coming in short pants. Ed stuck out his tongue and tasted the shaft. He heard Roy take in a bit of air and hold his breath.

Ed licked it again, this time from the base to the head. It wasn't _horrible_. It wasn't exactly delicious though. The noises his Colonel was making though..._that_ was delicious.

He took Roy into his mouth and gagged when Roy bucked into his mouth, sliding down his throat. Ed trying to form words around Roy's cock, which only succeeded in making the older man cry out in pleasure.

"Fuck, Ed!" He cried out, tangling his fingers in Ed's golden hair. It took all of his willpower not to shove Ed's head down further and shove his dick down the younger man's throat. All of his willpower. All of it.

Ed tried to swallow around the cock in his mouth and earned a sharp gasp in return.

"More," Roy murmured.

"Wait," Roy lifted Ed's head off of him and Ed gave him an annoyed glare.

"What?" Ed whined.

Roy said nothing, but instead manoeuvered himself so that he was on top of Ed, with his crotch in his face.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Ed gasped as Roy's fingers worked on his zipper.

"Just suck me off," Roy ordered. Ed, being trapped on the bottom, figured that he didn't really have much of a choice, so he did as he was told. Roy gritted his teeth as he pulled Ed's dick out of the confines of his boxers and grinned at it.

He planted a kiss on the head of Ed's penis and took the whole thing into his mouth at once. Ed moaned loud, but it was muffled. Roy's eyes rolled back as he experienced pure ecstasy.

Mustang bobbed his head up and down the length and sucked hard, trying to find out what made Ed go crazy. He licked the long vein along the underside and earned a loud moan.

Roy bucked into the blonde's mouth, savoring the feeling of Ed's throat closing around him. He sped up, sucking harder and faster with each bob of his head. He found himself wanting to grin as Ed mimicked his actions. He felt Ed grab his ass, and he felt a bit saddened when he realized that he couldn't do the same, because Ed's ass was on the ground.

This sad feeling didn't last long, however. Roy tried to warn Ed that he was about to come, but he couldn't...so he just let it happen. They both released almost simultaneously, Ed squeezing Roy's butt cheeks for some kind of support.

Ed grimaced as the fluid slid down his throat. He didn't bother "cleaning up", and instead shoved Roy's lower half off of his face. Roy, on the other hand, was still milking Ed for every drop of come he had. Ed enjoyed the show as he watched the other man lap up the drops of come he had missed.

Not caring enough to tuck himself back into his boxers, Ed made his way over to Roy and laid down on top of him, carefully avoiding the wounded shoulder, which had to hurt by now.

Roy wrapped his arms around Edward, realizing that this would all be a regretted later on. But right now, he didn't care. All he wanted was to sleep. With Ed in his arms. He got his wish. Maybe luck was finally on his side again....

_**(A/N: Sorry about the wait! wouldn't let me login! I know this chapter seems a bit rushed, but guess what. I DON'T CARE. It's my story. Back off. lol. I'll update whenever or whatever. Yeah. Review?)**_


	13. Chapter 13

"Major Elric!" A stern voice barked from outside of the tent. Ed nearly jumped out of his skin, he was so startled. He detangled himself from Roy's arms and tucked himself back inside of his pants. He then crawled out of the tent, with his heart pounding in his chest.

He stood up as straight as he could and saluted the Major General.

"I thought you understood me when I told you to make the mattresses first and _then_ check on the Colonel," the older man's eyes narrowed as he spoke.

"I understood, sir," Ed said, barely keeping the anger out of his voice.

"Then tell me why you're _here_ and not over _there_ making mattresses!" The Major General shouted in Ed's face, spraying saliva everywhere. The younger man barely held back a look of disgust.

"I brought the Colonel breakfast, sir, because he hasn't eaten in nearly two days," Ed replied, readily.

"Next time, _Major_," the older man stressed Edward's rank, "I expect you to follow my orders. _Do I make myself clear_?"

"Sir, yes, sir," Ed replied, automatically, hardly even listening anymore; he desperately wished it was warmer outside.

"One more thing, Elric," the Major General said in a less strict voice, "your fly is undone."

And with that, he walked away, leaving a furiously blushing Edward Elric, standing by the green tent. Ed immediately zipped up the zipper and dove back into the tent.

"I've gotta go, but I'll be back in a few hours," Ed whispered to the now awake Colonel.

"Mmkay," Roy mumbled, still groggy from his nap.

Ed walked out of the tent, headed for the center of the camp. He recalled having the most wonderfully erotic dream about the Colonel and himself. He grinned as he remembered the details. Then, realization struck him. He stopped dead in his tracks. That had definitely _not_ been a dream.

"Shit," Ed whispered. His breathing quickened as he remembered everything.

"What the _fuck_ was I thinking?! Seriously! What the _fuck_! Oh, shit. Oh, shit, shit, _shit_," Ed panicked. His hands flew up to his head, grasping and pulling on his hair. He had sucked off his commanding officer, Roy Mustang! He could hardly wrap the thought around his head.

He quickened his pace and nearly sprinted to the heart of the camp, where many soldiers were waiting in a line. One of those soldiers was Gizmo.

Ed trotted up to the front of the line were the materials were resting in giant bags. He pulled out some material and set to work, but not before Gizmo had come to greet him.

"Hey, Ed!" The redhead called out, waving his arms in the air, frantically.

Despite his rather unstable state of mind, Ed grinned and waved back, motioning for his fellow comrade to join him up at the front. Said comrade jogged up to stand beside Ed, ignoring his protesting peers.

"Hey, why aren't you asleep?" Ed asked, immediately, transmuting a few more mattresses and handing them off to other men.

"Not that tired, what with all the excitement going on this morning. I'm pretty pumped up!" Gizmo punched a fist into the air as if it would help him get his point across.

Ed nodded, giving his friend a small smile.

"So, what's up?" Gizmo put his hands on his hips and gazed [down] at Ed, who shrugged.

"Not much. I'm exhausted, and so is the Colonel. I've gotta go check on him in a few hours," Ed replied, lazily clapping his hands again, forming another mattress, this one only slightly better than the last.

"Ah, yeah, so how _is_ he doing? He looked a little worse for wear when we dropped him off at the medical tent this morning," Gizmo pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

"He's alright. He's moving around well," the blonde replied. Oh yes, he was moving around _very_ well.

"That's good," Gizmo stated, smiling.

The two talked for a bit before lunch time rolled around. By then, Ed was completely done with the mattresses, and he was completely exhausted.

"You'd better go give him something to eat," Gizmo urged the blonde.

"Yeah, I guess," Ed looked at the ground, biting his lip. He was _not_ looking forward to seeing the Colonel after what had happened. _Really_ not looking forward to it. How embarrassing! Ed thought of the relationship the Colonel and he had always shared. They weren't friends, in any way, shape, or form, but they weren't enemies. They were just two people who...loved to hate each other.

Ed didn't know what he would do if that relationship ever changed - and now it had. So what was he to do? He really just wanted to run around in circles, screaming his head off until his voice was hoarse, but he decided that doing so would probably look a little...insane on his part. Just a little.

"Hey, Gizmo.... Do you mind if I ask you a...kind of a personal question?" Ed asked, looking at his friend's evilly grinning face.

"Of course I wouldn't mind, Ed! Personal questions are my specialty!" He replied, puffing his chest out proudly. Ed winced. He knew all too well that Gizmo was an expert on...erm..._personal _subjects.

"Let's say you have a friend - no, not even a friend. More like an acquaintance. You don't really like each other, and then you...let's just say you had sex with that somebody. How would you approach that person?" Ed ground out, finally, after much stuttering and blushing.

"Oh, Ed, you finally had kinky butt-sex with the Colonel?! Good j--"

"NO! I did _not_ have kinky butt-sex with the Colonel!" Ed yelled back, indignant. Needless to say, quite a few people were staring.

"Nothing to see here, people. Keep walkin'," Gizmo ordered. They complied.

"This is all hypothetical, Gizmo," Ed explained, though both of them knew that it was anything _but_ hypothetical. The redhead adjusted his glasses.

"Well, Edward, if _I_ were to do that, I'd call 'em up and ask for another round," Gizmo winked and nudged the blonde in the ribs in a teasing manner.

"I'm being serious, Giz!" Ed raised his voice.

"Okay, okay," he raised his hands in mock surrender.

"I think I'd just tell the person that everything was a mistake, and that I want to go back to our old relationship. Unless, of course, said person was totally _fucking drop-dead sexy_, then I'd definitely ask for another round," the redhead waggled his eyebrows. Ed pinched the bridge of his nose (a habit he must have picked up from the Colonel at some point...).

Ed took a plate of food and a bottle of water, said "good-bye" to Gizmo, and began his miniature journey back to the lonely, green tent.

Minutes later, Ed was pulling back the flap of tent, desperately hoping that Roy wasn't doing that unspeakable thing again.... He wasn't. Sighing in relief, Ed crawled into the tiny shelter, careful not to let the food drop to the dirt ground.

"Hey, Colonel. I've got some food for you," Ed's voice roused the sleeping figure. Roy sat up too quickly, causing him to gasp in pain.

"What's wrong?" Ed demanded to know.

"Just my shoulder. I fell asleep on it," Roy quickly explained, rubbing the wound gingerly. Ed sighed, exasperatedly.

"You idiot! Why - no - _how_ did you end up sleeping on it if it hurts so much?!"

"I was comfortable at the moment and too tired to notice, I suppose," Roy shrugged. Ed pinched the bridge of his nose once more; the Colonel smirked, noticing that he had passed his habit onto Edward.

"Anyway, I've brought food for you," Ed grumbled, shoving the plate of food under the man's nose. Roy blinked once, twice, and took the food, nodding.

"I'm actually not that hungry, but thank y--" the older alchemist was cut off by a sudden coughing fit. Ed quickly opened the bottle of water and shoved it into the Colonel's mouth, effectively stopping the coughs. After drinking about half of the water, Roy nodded, and Ed lowered the bottle from his lips.

"Thanks," Roy panted, keeping his head down. He sniffed a little, alarming Ed.

"Are you sick?!" Ed raised his voice, unnecessarily.

"Ouch, Ed. Lower your voice, please. My head hurts," Roy rubbed his head, absent-mindedly as he fought his body's urge to shut down and pass out.

"You need sleep. Lots of it. I can't believe you're sick!"

Roy nearly laughed; Ed sounded like a worried mother. It wasn't something he got to see everyday.

"Calm down, Ed. I'm sure it's just the common cold. It's nothing you should worry about," Roy assured him, although he wasn't quite sure himself.... Luck had left his side...again.


	14. Chapter 14

Ed awoke to the sound of gunfire nearby. His heart pounded in his chest as he listened intently. There was no way of telling how close or how far away the shots were, but his gut was giving him a very bad feeling. He scampered to the front of the tent and dove outside, sweeping the land with his gaze.

He felt a lump form in his throat when he surveyed the scene before him. Many of the white tents in the distance were burning brightly. Orange flames licked the grey sky as smoke curled in the air around them. The only men Ed could see were wearing brown uniforms - not Amestrisian men then. His eyes grew wide as he realized the danger they (Roy and he) were in.

He whipped around and dove back into the tent, shaking Roy's uninjured shoulder roughly. It took a moment for the Colonel to come around, but when he did, he sat up quickly, causing his and Ed's heads to collide painfully.

"Ugh," Roy grouched, rubbing his head, "what do you want, Full Metal?"

"The Aerugians. They're attacking," Ed said, gravely.

"What?! How did they get past the security? The guards?" Roy demanded to know.

"I don't know, but we've got to get out of here," Ed said, firmly, leaving no room for argument.

"Shouldn't we check for survivors?" Roy asked, trying to stifle his coughs.

"They won't leave any survivors. They're over there at the white tents, shooting survivors as we speak. There's too many of them for us to fight - especially in our exhausted states," Ed explained, impatiently. They needed to get moving. _Now_. Roy nodded.

"Let's go," he huffed, crawling out of the tent using only one arm.

Ed grabbed a water canteen, two gas masks, two of their winter uniforms, their suitcases and crawled out of the tiny shelter. He squinted around; the Aerugians were still preoccupied searching for survivors in the other sections of the camp. No one had bothered to look at the lonely green tent on the far side of the rest camp. Quickly, he transmuted the two suitcases into a small ring box and stuffed it into his pocket.

"They're attacking from the back of the camp. That means our trench forces have fallen through. We have to head to the front gate," Roy wheezed, coughing violently. Ed gave him a concerned look but shook it off, grabbing his commanding officer by the elbow and lead him up the path to the front gate. Roy couldn't go very fast due to his injury. He was starting to think that it had affected something much more important than his shoulder, but he brushed off the worry and trekked on.

They reached a few buildings and walked past them, trying their best to stick to the walls. Ignoring the shouts, they pressed on, finally making their way to the front gate. No guards were found, but a few of the emergency transport cars were missing. No doubt the guards had fled the rest camp in search of a safe haven.

Ed and the Colonel stumbled over to a car and clambered inside. The younger alchemist threw the survival materials into the middle of the seat - between Roy and himself.

"No key? Damn it," Ed ran a hand through his hair to ease off some of his frustration.

"Are you an alchemist or aren't you?" Roy wheezed, smirking half-heartedly. Ed nearly smacked himself in the face for his own stupidity. Not wanting to waste precious seconds retorting, Ed laid his hand on the outside of the car and transmuted a key out of a small piece of metal. Perfect. Sure, there was a little key-shaped indention on the side of the car, but he couldn't bring himself to care about that.

"Alright, here we go," Ed shoved the key into the ignition and cranked the car up. The engine roared to life and Ed gave a little sigh of relief. He shifted the gears to reverse and backed up, out of the gates and onto a dirt road. He shifted the gears once more and the two alchemists were off - off to start their new journey on the road forever...or at least until the car ran out of gas.

"Just keep headed north and we'll come to the hotel that we stayed at before. We need to phone someone at Central and send for back-up. There's no way we can fight in these conditions," Roy gestured to his wounded shoulder and gave a little cough.

"You need a doctor," Ed stated, sneaking a glance toward his commanding officer.

"Perhaps," Roy replied, sniffling a bit. He knew he needed medical attention, but he had no wish to worry his subordinate even more.

"Just keep your eyes on the road," Roy ordered, albeit in a gentle voice.

"Aye, aye, Cap'n," Ed gave a mock salute with his Auto-Mail hand and quickly placed it back on the wheel when the car swerved.

Twenty minutes later, they came to the hotel which they had stayed at before. Parking the car a few minutes away from the building, Ed grabbed the supplies and hopped out of the vehicle. Roy followed.

"Ed, I'm sure you're aware that we have no money, aren't you?" Roy questioned the younger alchemist, yet still followed close behind him.

"Oh, I wouldn't say _that_," Ed smirked, crouching down all of a sudden, nearly causing Roy to trip over him.

"What are you doing, Full Metal?" Roy snapped, flustered about having almost fallen.

"You'll see," Ed clapped and transmuted a pile of rocks into golden coins. Roy's jaw dropped in awe.

"Where did you learn that?" He gawked at the pile of fake coins. He picked one up and scratched it, frowning when dirt got stuck underneath his fingernail.

"They're not the best, but I don't have anything else to work with. We only need to stay here for a night or two. I doubt they'll notice, but I can't be sure," Ed explained, gathering all of the coins into his arms and dumping them into his pockets.

"Let's just hope this works," the blonde advised, giving Roy a half-smile before pushing open the double doors of the hotel.

"Hello, how may I help you?" The brunette lady at the cashier asked, batting her eyelashes at Roy.

"One room. Two nights," Ed ground out, dumping the coins on the counter. The lady sent him a disapproving glare before sorting out the change, coin by coin.

"Alright, that seems to be in order. Here is your room key," she handed the key to Roy, who accepted it with a dazzling smile.

The pair of alchemists walked up a flight of steps and finally reached the top landing, leaving Roy gasping for breath - no doubt because of his wound.

"You okay, old man?" Ed wrapped an arm around the Colonel's waist and grabbed one of his arms, pulling it around his shoulders. They moved slowly but surely, occasionally stopping to rest against one of the hotel walls. Finally, they reached their destination and jammed the key into the lock, wrenching the door open.

The same foul odor greeted them as they walked in, causing Ed to gag and Roy to start another coughing fit.

"Home sweet home," Ed gagged, his eyes watering.

"Full Met--" coughing, "_Ed_. Will you take care of the--" coughing, "vermin?"

"Yeah. Stay right here and don't move," Ed closed the door behind them and threw open a window. He flipped a bed over and was shocked to find no pests. He flipped over the other bed and yelped when a cockroach nearly crawled up his leg. He stepped on it and picked it up with his Auto-Mail hand, throwing it out of the open window.

"I need to call Central HeadQuarters," Roy managed to cough out.

"No. Not yet. You need to get some water and some rest," Ed pointed out, remaking the beds as he talked.

"No, I don't feel that bad. I just need a wet rag for my head, I think, and I'll be fine," Roy looked at his subordinate with a miserable expression on his face. Now that Ed really looked, the Colonel's cheeks _were_ rather flushed.

"I think you could use a good shower. That would cool you off and get rid of all that dirt, grime, and blood from the trenches," Ed shrugged, waiting for Roy to decide what was best.

"Yeah. A shower. Help?" Roy sent Ed a pleading look, holding out his arm. The younger alchemist hooked a strong arm around Roy's waist and brought the extended arm to his shoulders and slung it over. With wobbly steps, they made their way to the tiny bathroom and flicked on the light, sighing in relief when no cockroaches scuttled away.

Ed released his hold on the Colonel and stood next to the step-in shower. He turned the knobs to suit his liking before remembering that the hotel didn't have hot water.

"Colonel, I--"

"Roy. Call me Roy," the older man closed his eyes and brought a hand to his head, brushing the hair away from his sweaty forehead.

"Erm.... Roy...d'you think you could raise the temperature of the water a little? The water in the pipes as well. Hell, just make the pipes hot, alright?" Ed revised, nodding in approval when Roy snapped his gloved fingers. He checked the temperature of the water and deemed it ready for use.

"Alright, I'll just leave you to...do your business," Ed cleared his throat, his hand closing on the doorknob.

"Stay. In case something happens. Please, Ed," Roy's ebony eyes begged the blonde to stay by his side. Ed just couldn't say no; he'd never seen the man so vulnerable before in his whole life.

"Okay," he replied, seating himself on the closed toilet lid.

He tried not to watch as Roy fumbled with his uniform jacket buttons, slipping the heavy coat off with ease. The sweat-soaked uniform top underneath was just as muddy and bloody.

Roy's fingers were starting to go numb due to the rather cold room temperature. He needed heat. Goosebumps rose on his skin as he failed three times to slip the buttons out of the hole.

Without a word, Ed rose from his seat on the toilet and pulled the Colonel closer to him, concentrating - not on the close proximity of the gorgeous man in front of him - on the task at hand. He successfully, albeit clumsily (his Auto-Mail hand just wasn't cut out for doing these small day-to-day tasks), unbuttoned all of the buttons and pushed the top to the ground.

The bathroom began fogging up, filling the air with warm but still somehow chilly air. Sweat dripped down Ed's chest and back as he worked on undressing his Colonel. He felt his awakening erection twitch with excitement as he stared at the bare chest in front of him. Two perky nipples stood at attention, just begging for Ed's fingers to grab them, for his tongue to taste them. He resisted the urges, but barely.

He gingerly unwrapped the bandages covering the man's shoulder, concealing a grimace as he inspected the black, blue, and purple bruise forming around the scabbing wound. He threw the bandages on the countertop and unconciously toyed with his ponytail.

"You've got it from here, right, Col - Roy?" Ed corrected himself quickly, looking away from the half-naked man.

"I think so," Roy gruffed, unzipping his pants. Ed listened to the sounds of clothes rustling and falling to the ground and waited to turn around when he heard the _pit_-_pat_ of feet walking into the shower.

Ed turned around and sat down on the toilet, listening to the sound of the water hitting the floor and draining. He heard a _thud_ from the other side of the curtain and jumped up.

"Roy? Are you okay?" Ed called out, already starting to panic.

"Ugh. I can barely stand. 'm leaning against the wall for support," Roy groaned from the opposite side of the curtain.

"Do you want...do you want me to help?" Ed probed, cautiously.

"_Yes_," Roy replied rather quickly. "Hurry. My legs are gonna give out."

"Alright. I'm coming in," Ed said, stripping down to his boxers in record time. He decided to leave his boxers on for good measure.

"M'kay," was the weak reply.

"Cover yourself up or something," the blonde warned before pulling back the curtain to reveal a still very naked Roy Mustang. He drank in the sight before his erection came back to life. Roy's eyes were barely open, surveying the young man before him with a rather hungry look. Both of their mouths hung open, watching each other in a daze of hunger, lust, and something else....

"Sweet mother of fucking God...." Roy managed to say, still ravishing Edward with his eyes. Ed could only nod his head in agreement, all the while wondering if he would be able to keep his hands off of the older alchemist. It was a battle he was bound to lose.


	15. Chapter 15

"Uh...I...."

Ed couldn't find the right words for the life of him.

There he stood. Colonel Roy Mustang. Naked. In the shower. Nevermind the hideous bullet wound near his shoulder. Ed drank in more than his share of the man in front of him before reluctantly tearing his eyes away.

Roy slid down the wall of the shower and sat on the floor. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

Ed gathered his thoughts and stepped forward. _Clank_. That wasn't so hard. He stepped forward again. And again. Soon, he was less than a foot away from the Colonel. He stepped underneath the hot spray of water and let the liquid run down his body, easing stiff joints and sore muscles.

He bent down, carefully avoiding his gaze, and grabbed Roy's upper arms.

"C'mon. Get up," Ed urged, tugging none-too-gently on the older alchemist's arms. The effort didn't have much of an effect.

"Can't get up," Mustang responded in a weak voice.

Ed didn't know what to do. He turned off the water and stared at the older alchemist beside him. Roy was breathing sounded wheezy and laboured. Ed was half-hard because of the naked man beside him, but his concern for his commanding officer overcame his lust. He wrapped a fluffy white towel around Roy's shoulders and gingerly helped him into a standing position.

"Bed.... Bedroom," Roy coughed out. His muscles tightened as he struggled to stay upright. He was getting dizzier by the second.

"Okay. Bedroom it is," Ed repeated, collecting his wits about him. That was rather hard to do seeing as how Mustang's naked body was leaning on him. He could feel Roy's prominent erection against his side, but he ignored it as best as he could.

Wobbly step-by-wobbly step, Roy made it into the hotel bedroom. Ed ignored the cockroaches that scuttled by; his main concern was Roy. Finally, they made it to one of the beds. Mustang all but collapsed onto it. He lay sprawled out, not bothering to cover himself up. He was laid out for only Ed to see.

Ed's erection was standing at full attention now. His boxers did almost nothing to hide his member. There was an undeniable tent pitched in his boxers, and he had no way to relieve himself with Mustang in the room. Unless....

'_No. Mustang is sick. I can't ask him to...to...._' Ed's thoughts drifted away as he stared at the naked man laying in front of him.

The temptation to ravish the Colonel was becoming overwhelming. He needed to get away - and fast. As Roy coughed, his manhood bobbed, seemingly teasing Ed. The latter averted his eyes, blushing madly. He fought his desires off and headed for the bathroom door, not hearing the Colonel's weak protests.

He yanked the door open, darted into the room, and closed it behind him, quickly. He let out a breath, running his flesh hand through his grimy hair. He cringed. Eyeing the shower, he turned it on once more and adjusted the knobs to his liking. Perfect.

He stepped under the spray, boxers still on, and let out a relieved sigh. His erection was nowhere near wilting point, so he pulled down his boxers and stepped out of them, flinging them across the small room with his foot. He remembered the ring box in his pants pocket and quickly located the missing trousers. He dug into the pocket and pulled out a ring box. He sat it on the counter and clapped his hands, transmuting the small box into two large suitcases.

He stepped into the shower and let the water cascade down his body in rivulets, soothing his aching muscles. He touched his erection experimentally, nearly laughing when it jumped to attention. He reminisced. He remembered the feel of Roy's mouth on him back at the tents. He wished he could feel that again. He arched his back off of the tiled wall, sliding down it and sitting on the floor, still pumping, never once losing rhythm.

It was Roy he thought of when he pleasured himself. It was memory of Roy sucking him off that got him off. It was Roy's face he thought of when he came all over the tiled wall, stifling the moan of a three-letter name - the name of a person who was only in the next room, yet he couldn't have. No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't afford to indulge himself even once more. Never, ever again.


End file.
